Inside Wickliffe's Family Resource Center: Strengthening Communities

The Wickliffe Family Resource Center, operated by the Wickliffe City School District, teamed up with ThenDesign Architecture to produce a series of informational videos showcasing the free services provided to community members and students, including primary care, behavioral health, and oral care. It is designed to be a model for resource centers across the country. In close partnership with Signature Health, the non-profit organization is connected to the new PreK-12 Campus in Wickliffe, Ohio.

Inside Wickliffe's Family Resource Center: Strengthening Communities

The Wickliffe Family Resource Center (WFRC) is operated by the Wickliffe City School District in partnership with Signature Health. It is a unique organization that brings together support services and educational resources to enhance the well-being of students, families, and community members.

A series of documentary videos was created to explain what the Wickliffe Family Resource Center is and how it can assist those in need. Offering physical resources such as food, clothing, and household supplies through the WicKloset program is in addition to Signature Health’s free primary care, behavioral health, and oral health services.

Part 1: Who Are We?

“The Wickliffe Family Resource Center is a one-stop shop for members of the community, students, and staff to get any of their needs met,” commented former superintendent Joe Spiccia on the WFRC.

The FRC has become a community hub, operating under the guiding principle: “We never say no.” Built from a careful examination of Wickliffe’s students and our families, the center’s vision, championed by Director of Strategic Innovation Julie Ramos, is to ensure student success by complementing the work of schools.

The FRC, which includes a secure on-campus clinic co-located within the PreK-12 school, provides critical food, clothing, medical, and mental health services. The initiative is designed to wrap around students and families, offering a safe location and the necessary supports so they can level up. Local leadership, including the mayor, emphasizes that the FRC is one way this tight-knit community provides for its neighbors and students who may be going through challenging times. The district’s student experience is impacted for the better because, as one community member noted, “If you needed any help, it was there.”

Part 2: Partnership with Signature Health

Many students have unmet mental or chronic health needs, and we know that those can negatively impact their attendance and their performance. Having a clinic at the WFRC allows us to address those needs and see success in students,” said Medical Director, Primary Care for Signature Health, Dr. Todd Wagner. They aim to provide students with key services that benefit their lives.

The success of the Wickliffe School District’s academic mission relies on students being “healthy, happy, and feeling good,” according to Superintendent Joe Spiccia. This led to the partnership with Signature Health, a community health center specializing in serving those at any socioeconomic scale.

Signature Health at the Family Resource Center (FRC) provides comprehensive, co-located healthcare, including primary care, behavioral health, and oral health. The service is unique in that it is open to anybody, regardless of zip code, status, or income.

This collaboration addresses significant barriers to academic performance—such as hunger, housing instability, or unmet mental health needs—that impede a student’s ability to learn. By offering vaccines and physicals on-site, students do not miss instructional time. Clinicians can work as a team with school staff to address chronic conditions like asthma or provide individual and family counseling for emotional needs. This proactive support system is critical for the student experience, allowing children who were once struggling to “thrive,” see their “grades improve,” and ultimately graduate. The goal is to expand the impact on the entire community.

Part 3: Making a Difference

The Wickliffe Family Resource Center (FRC) utilizes a unique “wraparound service” model to assist individuals in need. Director of Strategic Innovation for Wickliffe City Schools, Julie Ramos, stated, “By having a wraparound service, we aim to benefit each person outside of just an academic setting. If we don’t provide the service, we’re going to figure it out.” This approach sets Wickliffe apart by offering comprehensive resources in one location, ensuring that when a family or student presents a challenge, the FRC commits to providing a solution.

Core services include the WicKloset, which offers seasonal clothing, shoes, and dry storage food. Crucially, the FRC helps students by providing counseling services, an outlet that was unavailable to previous generations of struggling single-parent families. This support directly impacts the student experience, providing the necessary aid that allows young people to focus on their education.

The FRC is supported by the community, with citizens donating and volunteering to help out those in need. High school students are learning empathy and leadership by giving back, recognizing that helping others creates a positive “chain reaction” for the whole community. Grant support from the state and federal government recognizes the importance of this work, which provides significant downstream savings through early intervention.

Part 4: Measuring Success

Since opening in 2019, the Family Resource Center (FRC) has served over 10,000 people across 22 ZIP codes, demonstrating a significant community impact. Last year alone, the FRC served approximately 2,000 individuals through programs like the WicKloset, ensuring food and clothing for community members.

The FRC’s true measure of success is the tangible impact on family and student outcomes. By addressing non-academic barriers, the district has seen a 12% reduction in the chronic absenteeism rate and an improved graduation rate. There has also been an increase in participation in extracurricular activities, partially credited to the availability of free physicals at the center.

For struggling students, the center provides crucial primary care and behavioral health services, which have been proven to lead to better school attendance and performance. Success is measured in many ways—but the FRC’s data confirms that its “big mountain to climb” approach is making a direct, positive difference in the overall student experience and the community at large.

Part 5: Building the Campus

“We knew that if we served the whole community, we were then serving the students,” commented former superintendent Joe Spiccia on the construction of the new PreK-12 school.

The Wickliffe community is a close-knit entity. The schools, which are a central part of that community, launched meetings in 2017 to address their aging facilities. The result was a consensus to build a new Preschool through 12th-grade campus, consolidating all students into one secure location.

The design of the new campus and the attached Family Resource Center (FRC) was strategically executed with ThenDesign Architecture (TDA). The FRC, which was designed as a part of the new school, was created as a secure, safe location with its own outside entrance and connection to the school. This physical design ensures safety while maximizing accessibility.

The FRC’s success stems from extensive collaboration; the district met with every social service agency in Lake County, securing Signature Health as its primary partner. State government officials also provided crucial support to secure funding. The center operates on the premise that serving the whole community inherently serves the students, creating a supportive environment where students know, “We’ve got you. Even if you trip, you have somewhere to go.” This thoughtfully designed space ensures every student can get back up and continue moving forward.

Part 6: Setting the Example

“This is the future of education. It is really, truly addressing the entire human and by using our partnerships and working collaboratively to bring in those nonprofits, we benefit families and students,” states Director of Strategic Innovation for Wickliffe City Schools, Julie Ramos.

The Wickliffe Family Resource Center (FRC) is positioned as a successful model that needs to be replicated in communities nationwide. Stakeholders assert the FRC represents the future of education, stressing that its value goes “way beyond any return on investment” by creating happier, healthier communities.

The center’s mission is to support the whole child, whole family, and whole community. By addressing the entire human through strong partnerships with nonprofits, businesses, and foundations, the FRC ensures students receive comprehensive support. This holistic approach significantly improves the student experience by removing non-academic barriers.

Wickliffe leaders are inviting other school districts seeking to build similar programs to “call us.” They pledge to be an “open book,” sharing every step of their journey to demonstrate how any community—whether in Lake County or five states away—can benefit from this center and utilize its services. The existence of the FRC is a major asset that offers support to many families in need.

Learn more about the Wickliffe Family Resource Center by visiting their website: https://www.wickliffeschools.org/wickliffe-frc

Ryan Caswell

Communications

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Ryan Caswell

Ryan is a communications specialist who is passionate about using digital media to further the goals of organizations and communities in Northeast Ohio. With a background in construction and a degree in architecture, he spent over a decade in corporate video production and brings this mindset to videography, editing, photography and content marketing. He is passionate about supporting the arts, and can be found hiking in the parks system.

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