Open days are to be held on August 24 and 25.
The older building had outlived its usefulness and was unsuitable to meet the changing social needs of modern Irish society, and more stringent childcare laws and building standards.
The original building had been opened in 1991 by Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP), giving the local community a base for a Parent & Toddler Group, Breakfast Club, After Schools Club, Shared Reading Club and for a time as a location for the Public Health Nurses who have now relocated.
It also served as a venue for a range of adult education courses and activities including FETAC courses in Childcare, Healthcare, Computers, ESOL learners, Personal Development, Community Integration, Children’s Art and related programmes.
“With the new building it will now be possible to centralise most of the above services and provide new ones including a Community Pre-School. It will also provide better accommodation and facilities,” say the staff of the Family Resource Centre (FRC).
The new building cost €400,000 and just over half has been raised by the FRC own efforts over the past few years.
Funding also included grant aid from Cork County Council Community Fund, SECAD, National Lottery Funding (HSE South) and from the SVP in the form of loans.
The staff of the FRC acknowledged that without the support from the local community, funding the new building would have been extremely difficult and challenging.
The FRC is not part of any Government programme towards family support.
An important element in fundraising is through the proceeds of “Vincent’s” charity shop on the Main Street.
This shop will remain in location and will continue to provide SVP services to the community.