On May 31, 2012, The Family Life Center, a small nonprofit located in Reidsville, closed its doors forever. Founded in 1969, by a group of local churches, The Family Life Center provided low cost counseling, anger management and domestic violence classes to persons who could not otherwise afford services well as to those referred by the Court.

Over in Wentworth, Raina Holliday and her staff are closing down the Day Resource Center (DRC). Funded primarily by the State's Criminal Justice Partnership Program (CJPP), the Day Resource Center not only worked with offenders on probation but also provided funds for local substance abuse, anger management and domestic violence programs. The DRC is closing because the State will no longer fund CJPP after this fiscal year.

Fortunately, the United Way of Rockingham County is concerned about the loss of these community resources. Because the anger management and domestic violence classes fall within the parameters of what ReDirections does, we will be talking to the United Way about our agency picking up the classes. If we are able to get the funding, we plan to begin offering the Anger Management classes beginning July 2, 2012 and the Domestic Violence classes once we become state certified which should be after October 1, 2012.

Still, as state and federal funds are cut and agencies close their doors, those nonprofit and faith based agencies that remain are being forced to do more with less. If everyone chose at least one nonprofit or faith-based organization to support with their time and money, agencies like The Family Life Center, which served this county for 49 years, might not become just a memory.