Family & Children’s Center looks to purchase new La Crosse headquarters (La Crosse Tribune)

The Center’s Board of Directors entered into a purchase agreement June 5 for the former Marine Credit Union administrative facility at 811 Monitor St.

Tita Yutuc, CEO and president of the Family & Children’s Center, said the new space will better fit the needs of the organization.

“We’re looking forward to some improved technology, stronger safety controls and a warm, welcoming environment for our clients are probably the biggest things,” Yutuc said. “There’s just a lot of really good things about the building and the size.”

The current building on Main Street has more space than the Center needs. Yutuc said a number of options were analyzed, including new construction, buying and remodeling existing structures or renovating the current property.

However, the agency found purchasing the 45-year-old, 31,000-square-foot structure was the most fiscally responsible option that also fulfills the agency’s long-term goals.

According to Yutuc, the board identified three guiding principles in 2022 on which to base a final decision: proximity, flexibility and experience.

The property’s flexible floor plan will bring a host of benefits as programs grow and change. The new site, in a central location, offers multi-purposed spaces, a central location, stronger safety and security, energy modernization and an enhanced client and staff experience.

Yutuc hopes the agency will move to the new Monitor Street property within the year. But the timeline is not finalized as the agency is still in the process of purchasing the property, and would like to make some renovations.

Last year, the agency served 900 more client visits than in 2021.

Yutuc believes moving to the new building will creatively support the increasing capacity for its key child abuse prevention and early intervention programs, several of which include the quickly expanding Healthy Families program, Stepping Stones and Respite Care, to name a few of the agency’s 20 programs.

“Like many businesses and nonprofits, especially following the pandemic, we have been carefully analyzing square footage needs,” Yutuc said. “For us, a larger building does not necessarily drive client care now or in the future, particularly as many of our services are delivered personally to our clients.”

Family & Children’s Center has roots dating back to 1881. For well over a century, the organization has responded to helping individuals lead more productive and stable lives by improving mental health with family-based support, outpatient therapy services and programs to protect children through the effects of child abuse and to help avert it in the first place with early intervention.

The article originally appeared in the La Crosse Tribune on June 14, 2023.