MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — A multipurpose facility in Muskegon that opened only about a month ago is already making a huge difference in people’s lives.

The Community Resource Center allows all county residents access to a variety of much-needed services, with many partners available in once place.

“Seventy community partners are involved with this facility and it’s growing weekly as others are hearing about it and reaching out,” executive director Dan Skoglund said. “So it’s everything from financial to mental health to physical health to our day care facility to anything that people need. They’re going to be able to find it in one place.”

On-site resources include help from the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office to get state identification or driver’s licenses. Choice One Bank hosts classes on basic finance, being a good tenant and entering home ownership. There are cooking and nutrition classes. There’s a computer lab for people to apply for benefits or jobs.

The center’s goal is to create easy access to many services to help people find a way out of poverty.

“When you think of the single mom or the single dad now trying to do it with their little ones in tow, what does that look like? How are they going to be able to do that, to find that feeling of hope, that there is a light, there is a way through and out of this situation?” Skoglund said. “…They come in here and they feel that hope, that sense that there is a way to move forward now.”

The hours for the Community Resource Center, which is at 1747 7th St. at Laketon Avenue, behind the men’s shelter, are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday. It serves lunch daily at noon and operates as a warming center for those in need.