Imagine a school building filled with children, learning, laughing, and playing, an older school building, in 1931. Boys are playing baseball, girls are jumping rope, there are marble games and mumbley-peg on the playground, and McGuffy's Readers are at each desk. Money from the Oil City oil-boom funds this school building for the area's children. Children go through this building and move on to Shepherd High School. In 1964, when Shepherd schools could no longer accept the children, this school was closed, and it's students absorbed into the Bullock Creek School district.

This school was Greendale Elementary School, the first home of the West Midland Family Center, which was originally named the West Midland County Community Center. The doors were closed, the windows were boarded up. The building was left cold and vacant for 10 years. The community was left with no common place to gather for social, recreational or sports events.

Then, in 1974, forward-thinking community members came together to address the lack of a convening place for the residents of western Midland County. The Big Brothers organization was interested in locating a site for area teens to use. Consequently, the building and its surrounding three acres were sold by the Bullock Creek School district to Midland County. Phyllis Breedlove, who would eventually become the founder and the first Director of the WMFC, suggested that the school be renovated for use by all the community members, not just the teens. So was born the concept of West Midland County Community Center.

From concept, to dream come true, the building was transformed from schoolhouse to Community Center. With Phyllis Breedlove at the helm, members of the United Steelworkers of America Local 12075 volunteered their time, skills, tools and brawn to turn the building around.

Area teenagers also added muscle to the project. By November, 1974, West Midland County Community Center (WMCCC) was offering night school classes, The Greendale Happy Diners had set up shop, youth and adult activities were in motion and Phyllis Breedlove was appointed the Center's first Director.

From 1974 until 1989 the schoolhouse turned Community Center, served the community of western Midland County well. In 1989 we were fortunate to be able to get five major foundations to donate 1.8 million dollars to build a new Center covering 20,500 square feet. The new Center included one large preschool classroom, library, kitchen, dining facilities (which served many additional functions), a fitness room, gymnasium, locker rooms, a youth activity room, a food pantry,a free clothing room, and administrative offices. There was also a 27-acre park area adjacent to the building, which included a picnic area, baseball diamonds, a soccer field and an outdoor basketball court.

Utilization of the Center had increased remarkably since the facility originally opened. Overall, the number of individuals served had grown eight-fold in the last decade. Dozens of new programs and services had been added, including a licensed childcare program, family support programs, the Dow College Opportunity Program and a number of after school programs for youth and teens. The number of children and teens participating in Center programs had more than doubled in the last three years alone. However, after nearly 60 years, the building was tired and showing its age. At the same time, WMCCC was growing and because of this unbelievable growth... and the parallel need for services...the need for a major expansion was evident. Thus in the year 2000 the Center underwent another miraculous transformation.

The year 2000 began, Phase II of "A Dream, Come True". What was once a dream, became a reality, when the Centers most recent expansion project costing $2.8 million was completed, nearly doubling the physical size of the original Center.

Included in the 2000 expansion were two large, colorful preschool rooms, a youth activity room, a Parent Resource Room, a second gymnasium, a computer lab, renovated office space and an outdoor swimming pool. The additional space has allowed WMFC to augment its well-established programs and offer new programs as well.

New preschool rooms opened the way to move the preschool programs out of the existing childcare wing opening this entire wing for use by the childcare program. The addition of an activity room for younger children makes the "old" activity room available exclusively for teens, many of whom were actively involved in the renovation of that room.

The computer lab brought obvious benefits to the community. West Midland Childcare, Youth and Teen programs have used the lab to expand upon the educational components of their programs. Individuals without computer skills have found the Centers free adult computer classes of great benefit in allowing them to adjust to the world of the Internet and computer technology. For those who do not have a computer at home, the computer lab has become their connection to all that computers and the Internet have to offer them.

The second gymansium had provided greater flexibility for scheduling activities and has allowed for more recreational programs to be offered. And the pool!! What an outstanding addition! WMFC staff members have commented on the pool and the impact it has made on everything from summer program scheduling to behavioral changes in the children that call West Midland "home" in the summer.

Todays facility, dedicated in 1989, and rededicated in 2001, stands as a remarkable tribute to the perserverance of many dedicated individuals. Those volunteers and benefactors gave of their time, their talent, and their treasure to make a dream become a reality... and many continue that devotion today.

The West Midland Family Center is a non-profit organization. Funding for programming, operations, and building maintenance comes from many sources including the United Way of Midland County, government contracts, special grants, partner agencies....and generous individuals and foundations who have helped establish the Center's Endowment Funds. The Center is located 14 miles west of downtown Midland at 4011 West Isabella Road (M-20). The annual operating budget exceeds $1 million, with approximate allocation of funds to major program segments as follows: Youth and Teen 34%, Family Services 8%, Preschool and Child Care 27%, Senior Services 5%, Adult Services 4%, Dow COP 6% and Administative Expenses 16%.

Goods and services donated annually by contributors and volunteers have an estimated market value of more than $280,000...a vital element in "subsidizing" the operating budget.