Resource center officially opens in Huntington Station

The Huntington Opportunity Resource Center formally opened Wednesday, with the snip of a red ribbon.

The center, at 1264 New York Ave. in Huntington Station, provides Suffolk County residents instruction in resume preparation; helps with job searches; provides access to training; offers tips for interview success and job readiness; delivers department of social services application assistance and not-for-profit service referrals; and fields general human services questions.

The center offers classes in English as a Second Language and plans to include classes for Spanish as a Second Language as well as other on-site training opportunities.

"This is a networking building," Town Supervisor Frank Petrone told a crowd that included County Executive Steve Bellone, Huntington Town board members and other stakeholders. "People will come in here and leave with information and be in a better place than when they walked in."

The center, a collaboration between the town and county, will also include veterans services, preapprenticeship training, and additional support for youth programming. Since a "soft" opening in June, the center has had 646 client visits.

Bellone, who has made rounds in the hamlet recently, including walking door to door in some areas last week, sent a four-page letter to its residents last month outlining the county's latest efforts in revitalizing the area. He said the resource center is the latest tool to help bond the community.

"It's about leveraging those things in a way that will help change people's lives, and that's why a resource center in the heart of the community is so important," he said.

Town board member Tracey Edwards, credited with getting the resource center up and running, said the center represents the difference between "what we are and what we could become. It's about bridging that gap. It's about providing opportunities."

For information on the center, go to huntingtonny.gov/HORC.