“Fortified with a $5,000 grant from the Arise Foundation, the Family Resource Center in South Whidbey plans to expand its hours starting this fall.The center, housed in a portable classroom outside South Whidbey Intermediate School, provides a number of resources that benefit the community. But lacking funds to stay open last spring, the facility was in danger of closing.The heart of what we do is help people who have a need or wish to share a skill, said Gail LaVassar, the center’s project coordinator. The center is a neutral ground where families can come.Needing to stay open to provide services such as court-mandated anger management courses, computer literacy instruction and help with relatives raising their kin, the center could afford to stay open only two days a week, when it needed to be open 40 hours a week, LaVassar said. The Title I federal funding wasn’t enough to cover the cost of keeping the center open.That’s when the Arise Foundation stepped in. Founded by an anonymous patron 14 years ago, Arise provides grants to individuals and organizations that help South Whidbey women and children.Chuck Edwards, a partner with Edwards & Moore, a CPA firm in Freeland, handles administration and management of the endowment fund.We have funding sessions twice a year for individuals and organizations, Edwards said. We make grants to women for educational purposes or to organizations that serve women.Since the Family Resource Center helps provide resources for single mothers and families, it qualified as an Arise grant recipient.We appreciate Arise’s generosity, which is known for helping women and families, said LaVassar. It put us off to a good start.The center was closed for the summer to pursue additional funding: LaVassar said she’s looking at raising $15,000 more.We have been successful in raising funds, said LaVassar. We received donations from the South Whidbey Soroptimists, private donations and the South Whidbey Youth Center.The resource center will be open this fall with expanded hours. For more information on helping the center, call 221-6200, ext. 4607. Donations may be sent to the South Whidbey Family Resource Center, P.O. Box 346, Langley, WA 98260.For information on applying for Arise Foundation grants, write to P.O. Box 1014, Freeland, WA 98249. Applications must be received by Oct. 1 for the November funding session and by April 1 for the May grants. “