Forty-five families use facility: Colfax VOA office helps unite families

Jana Mathia, Gazette Reporter | Mar 01, 20180

There is nothing flashy to attract attention to the Colfax Volunteers of America (VOA) office on Mill Street in Colfax. The sign in the window is modest and simple and on the door is only the address.

“We have a whole array of services in Spokane,” noted Natashia Ruiz, assistant director for VOA family visitation services. Out of the headquarters in Spokane, the organization focuses a lot on addressing homelessness.

But the Colfax office serves a different, specific need. At least for now.

“It’s kind of a community-based need,” Ruiz said.

The Colfax office’s primary goal is to provide a place for families to be reunited for a time until the day they can be together permanently.

When children are taken from their parents by court-order, one of the goals is to be able to reunite that family after the issue that caused the separation is rectified. The court may order the parents to have three to four hour-long visits with their children during that process. Ruiz said the average time parents see their children is six to eight hours a week; it can take six months or longer before the family is reunited.

Before setting up the space in Colfax, those family visitations were taking place at McDonald’s or a library. Being in those settings for the length of the visit was not always easy. It also made it difficult to gauge how well the parents were coming along with skills like making a meal or putting a child down for a nap.

“They just needed a place that’s homey,” Ruiz said.

The Colfax VOA office is set up with a kitchen, living room and bedroom; all the amenities of home with some extras like games and toys.

About 45 families use the facility approximately 100 times per month, and it fills a need for families and children located in the rural areas. Often the children are in foster care in the rural communities, and Colfax serves as a central location. The Colfax location also offers close proximity to the courthouse, other county services and the state DSHS office.

“It’s such a great space,” Ruiz noted.

The open house for the new location was in spring of 2017. Prior to opening, VOA spent about two months looking for a space before settling at the Mill Street office.

Ruiz noted Steve’s Glass in Colfax and others donated a lot of toys, furniture and more to the initial set up.

“In setting up Colfax, I could not believe the amount of donations we got,” Ruiz said. There was so much that some items had to be sent to Spokane because of the limited Colfax space

Ruiz said social workers and families both love the space. The food stocked there is supplied out of the Spokane VOA pantry.

Family visitations at the Colfax location are a stepping stone for the families working through the system. Eventually, the hope is the children are returned to their biological parents. Then social workers follow up in the home to make sure the progress continues and the parenting skills learned are followed through.

“They want these families to succeed,” Ruiz said.

With the continued use of the space, there is a continued need for supplying it. Ruiz stated they are always looking for outside toys, strollers, food and clothing donations, diapers, wipes, toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap, board games and books.

“The upkeep of our space and resources to our families is quite expensive, and any donations are greatly appreciated and will be used to support families in our rural community,” Ruiz said.

The space is also used for some parenting classes and family preservation classes. Ruiz noted if classes and visitations overlap, there is a pointed effort to protect the confidentiality of the visits.