HUDSON, Fla. — A new source of help has arrived for families in Pasco County. The Hudson Community Health and Resource Center opened its doors last month on the Hudson High campus.

What You Need To Know

  • The Hudson Community Health and Resource Center opened its doors last month on the Hudson High campus

  • Currently, Pasco County students can receive free medical, mental health and dental services at the facility with plans to expand services to Hudson residents in the future

  • A food and clothing bank is also on site, having helped more than 70 families already with more help on the way this holiday season

Currently, the new facility is offering free medical, mental health and dental services to Pasco County students. Medical services are free for students but not available to the community at this time. Those services will be made available to residents in the future.

In addition, the center also has a food and clothing bank which has helped more than 70 families in the area already. And more help is on the way this holiday season.

“We have 1,000 families that we’re providing food for and we’ve maxed out the Christmas sign-up already and we are getting close to maxing out the Thanksgiving sign-up,” said Mark Clairmont, district liaison for the Hudson Community Health and Resource Center. “So that’s over almost 1,100 families we’ve helped through food donations alone.”

Those meals are being provided through Metropolitan Ministries, just one of the many organizations the new resource center is in partnership with. It’s these partnerships that are making it possible to offer help.

“Giving shoes to the families, but we are also signing people up for the holidays — for Thanksgiving and for Christmas.”

In the back of an SUV, Nicole Webb with Metropolitan Ministries is hard at work, handing out pairs of shoes to Hudson families in need.

“We’re just trying to help,” says Webb, a community navigator with Metropolitan Ministries. “That’s part of what we do is alleviate suffering and just getting people connected to resources, whatever that may be. It could be housing, food insecurity or back-to-school supplies.”

Doing what they do is being made a little more convenient thanks to a partnership with Pasco County Schools. They’re able to offer their services outside the new Hudson Community Health and Resource Center.

“We come to the specific location and zip codes 34669 and 34610, which is right here, and we help with financial assistance — whether it’s mortgage, rental, utilities or sometimes people just need resources outside of us and we connect them with those.”

And happening inside is a food and clothing bank offering help to locals.

“The cost of living nowadays and living paycheck to paycheck sometimes, I feel like it’s a good resource, and it helps keep food on the table,” says Kelly St. Pierre, who lives in Hudson. “Especially with a little one at home.”

Partnerships with local organizations make it all possible. But they’re not quite finished yet. Future plans are on the table with more resources — like free medical services — on the way.

“I’ve been coming here about a month or so,” said St. Pierre. “I feel like every time I come in there’s a bunch of different options than there were last time, so I feel like there’s a lot of selections every time you come here.”

And with each distribution comes a special feeling for everyone involved.

“To see the kids, or even the adults, getting a new pair of shoes is nice because you see that reflection of how you feel,” says Webb. “It’s nice we’re able to provide that for these families, whether it be the adults or the children that are in need of the shoes so it’s definitely really nice to experience.”

It’s an experience that will only grow stronger with each partnership that’s made.