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Earlier this year, staff at the Marshall County Family Resource Network saw a need for educational and social interaction in the lobby of the Department of Health and Human Resources in Moundsville earlier this year.
According to FRN Executive Director Stacie Dei, children who are involved with DHHR services or in the office as a visitor may have to spend considerable time in the waiting area. On Wednesday, Dei and her staff re-decorated the waiting area with child friendly accents and added several books, games and activities to the space. The “Kids’ Zone,” project, funded in part by a $5,000 Williams Energy grant, also provided children’s furniture, rugs and organizational items for area children to enjoy.
Dei said the space will assist the healthy development of local youth.
“What we tried to do is make it as universally engaging and gender-neutral as possible. The room was a blank canvas, so we added chairs, tables, books and more. We wanted to make sure the parents have a chair to sit in,” Dei said. “We tried to put together what we would like and what our children would like in a comfortable environment.”
Dei added people often visit the office during difficult times in their lives and keeping children happy may ease the burden.