Palm Coast, FL – Sitting down with CEO Carrie Baird at 8 am, it’s quiet in the Flagler County Village, but not for long. Her phone starts buzzing just minutes into the meeting but she stays laser focused describing how Flagler Cares’ mission has evolved over the years.
Starting small, the organization has continued to expand the services within it’s network. As a resources connector, Flagler Cares brings something to the table through the Flagler County Village that’s been missing in the past – a true continuum of care made possible through a linked network of health care, mental health and wellness providers in tandem with social services organizations and agencies.
With two decades in the healthcare and wellness field, it’s about having the expertise at your fingertips to identify resources at the local, state and federal levels. It’s a version of no wrong door but on a grander scale from the administrative side, and Baird has taken a lead on navigating what is a complex system.
“We are trying to create a real safety net of services in Flagler County,” she said. “It’s been wonderful. There are so many examples of just connecting with another organization about a specific client issue where you can just solve the issues and make those connections really quickly.”
Since leasing space on the third floor of City Marketplace and open the doors just after Thanksgiving in 2021, Flagler Cares, along with their partners in the Flagler Village find themselves rapidly filling their office complex. Additional space is being refurbished with new partners joining the efforts.
“I think everybody likes our space. It’s a nice environment to work in, and collaborate with others,” said Baird.
“We are already full and so we are doubled up, some of us sharing offices, so we’re starting renovations of additional suites that we’ve leased. We should have six offices over there and we’re excited to say we’ve already rented two of them out.”
Already housed under the Flagler County Village umbrella, Flagler Cares, The House Next Door, Early Learning Coalition of Flagler and Volusia, and the Health Start Coalition of Flagler and Volusia Counties, another high profile agency is joining the roster – Easterseals Northeast Central Florida.
“Easterseals will be moving in with us. They’re going to be offering a variety of programs including their Early Steps program where they do a lot of intervention and therapies with young ones so we’re excited to have them as a partner as well,” said Baird.
“We’re growing and I’m not sure what we’re going to do next because all the space in this building is leased out now,” she said with appreciation.
One office within the Flagler County Village is set aside as a ‘flex space’ for organizations who include Flagler in their service areas and need an office or meeting space.
“If there are organizations that provide services once or twice a month in Flagler, we have availability to do that,” she said.
Bringing together service organizations under a collaborative umbrella has been a mission of Baird’s for a number of years, and she’s pleased to see the community’s response to the Flagler County Village.
“We have so many calls that come in with people we’ve helped before who are now coming back for help, and people who are really new to us and found us from another partner or just heard about us,” she said.
“We also are seeing an increase in people who just need a computer and are coming and sitting in our lobby and completing applications or doing their recertification for food stamps or something like that. I’m encouraged that we’re providing a resource that meets a variety of people’s needs.”
Flagler Cares sponsors the weekly radio show Lifeline on WNZF NewsRadio, Saturday mornings at 9 am featuring guests from the Flagler County Village and other social service, healthcare and mental health organizations to connect residents of Flagler County to resources. Lifeline podcast previous episodes can be heard here at: www.flaglercares.org/lifeline.
