Megan Jenson is a co-owner of Creating Community Consulting, which was formed in 2022.

Clay County Commission

Dan Haglund

A co-owner of Creating Community Consulting who has been working with the Family Resource Center updated the Clay County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday in Moorhead.
Megan Jenson is one of 10 individuals at CCC with unique skills and backgrounds formed to provide “equity-focused, data-driven, results-based organizational and community change” within mainly Clay and Becker counties.
And some of the stark numbers show a strong need for such services within the city and county.
These services also include capacity building (search for and help with grant writing), board and staff retreats and coaching, marketing and storytelling, and motivational and public speaking.
The group, which was started in 2022, has had numerous contracts with Clay County, including one through the Family Resource Center in Moorhead, which is funded through a grant from the Minnesota-based Sauer Family Foundation.
“We do some of the work that is really hard when staff are busy doing their normal jobs,” Jenson said. “We’ve really come in to help with planning, getting partners to rally around a common goal, a lot of listening sessions.”
Jenson said the catalyst for her organization to get involved with the county’s Family Resource Center came from an opportunity with a vacant lot just south of Romkey Park on 19th Street in south Moorhead. This followed an exploratory look at a multiuse building in partnership with a land trust and Jasmin Child Care.
Jenson said the land trust is no longer involved and the project has shifted its focus, but the needs remain.
Jenson points to raw demographic data as a lodestar for additional resources.
Within the city of Moorhead, the median age is 31, yet the statewide average is 39. Home ownership within the city is 57 percent, while statewide it is 72 percent. Median household income in Moorhead is $68,680 and statewide it is $82,338.
And the most telling statistic is the poverty rate. Within Moorhead it is 18.4 percent, while statewide it is 9.6 percent.
“When we look at the poverty rate is almost double in Moorhead (versus statewide), we are seeing that we have a lot of young families in need,” Jenson said. “And that’s exactly what the Family Resource Center is built to support.”
Through the National Family Strengthening Network (NFSN), the FRC utilizes an approach which is multigenerational and family centered. It provides support at low or no cost for participants, and builds communities of peer support for families to develop social connections that reduce isolation and stress.
“Really how it’s been connected back to (Clay County) Social Services is that there is a lot of research that shows it increases the five protective factors families need to be successful,” Jenson said.
Jenson provided some quite strong data to bolster the mission of the Family Resource Center.
Nationally, FRCs have seen a Social Return on Investment of $4.93 for every dollar invested, a $3.65 savings for the child welfare system for every dollar invested, and a 63 percent reduction in child abuse cases. In addition, there has been a 50 percent reduction in out-of-home placements, 26 percent lower rates of community-level child abuse investigations, and gains in economic self-sufficiency, family function and overall improvements in children’s educational success.
Across all FRCs there are six recommended core services, including: parent education, child development activities, resource and referral, drop-in availability, peer-to-peer supports and life skills advocacy.
Commissioner Jenny Mongeau, Dist. 3, raised concerns of duplication in services from what is already provided by the county versus what Jenson’s group brings to the table.
“We do not want to duplicate, we do not want to create just another space that’s the same thing,” Jenson said. “But really we are seeing a need for specific aspects, and it’s really around the social capital building, which is just not naturally going to happen within a Social Service agency happens.”
Quinn Jaeger, director Clay County Social Services, reiterated Jenson’s assessment.
“We want to create a welcoming, open environment at the Family Service Center,” Jaeger said. “But we still have that reputation. A lot of what we do is being reactive, and families can view it as punitive. And as much as the awesome preventive voluntary work that we do provide, there still is that stigma that comes with Clay County (Public Health). What’s nice about a Family Resource Center is it really can focus on that prevention side of things, and kind of disconnect that from what can be the scariness of Clay County.”
Commissioner Kevin Campbell, Dist. 4, asked how the FRC differs from the Moorhead Community Center, which is in the process of being built on the site of the mostly-razed Moorhead Center Mall.
“We haven’t even gotten to a physical space yet,” Jenson said. “Right now we are bringing partners together.”
Jenson said many families and individuals have differing needs, and so there is a “siloing” of services based on those needs.