United Way donation offers new resource for victims

ARLINGTON — People who have been directly affected by the mudslide have a new resource for help, thanks to a donation from the United Way.

Earlier this week, the United Way of Snohomish County announced $525,000 in donations to family and community resource foundations in the areas affected by the slide.

Part of that money is going toward establishing a temporary Family Resource Project in Arlington, which is being set up to disperse $200,000 in money to address immediate needs in the community.

The Arlington Family Resource Project opened its doors Friday.

“Our goal is to make it as simple as possible to get the funds out to the people that need them,” said Christie Connors, executive director of the Community Resources Foundation, an umbrella group that manages several programs, including a permanent family resources center in Stanwood.

The temporary Family Resource Project is setting up in the Arlington Community Food Bank, located at 19118 63rd Ave. NE*a>.

United Way’s donation is coupled with a $25,000 gift to staff and administer the new program in Arlington for four months.

If immediate needs persist for longer, more funding might allow the project to remain operational beyond that time, Connors said.

The Cascade Valley Hospital Foundation has allocated an additional $50,000 to support the nascent Arlington program, board member Heather Logan said.

Arlington Mayor Barbara Tolbert has wanted to establish a permanent family resource center along the lines of existing centers in other cities. Those plans are still being developed, but the mudslide necessitated establishing something to deal with the immediate needs of the community.

“I think we’re going to find more and more needs as people talk to us, but we needed a central location where people could come and safely talk,” Tolbert said earlier this week.

Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com.

Correction, April 7, 2014: This article originally used an old address for the Arlington Community Food Bank. Due to a technical error, the old address also appears on the food bank’s website, which the organization is seeking to fix.