At its June 17 meeting, the Fremont City Council approved a three-year agreement with the East Bay Agency for Children (EBAC) to expand multilingual support at the Fremont Family Resource Center (FRC). The $237,856 contract will fund resource specialists at the center’s Welcome Center from fiscal years 2025–26 through 2027–28.
EBAC staff will provide in-person and phone assistance in 10 languages—English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Dari, Korean, Pashto, Spanish, Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu. The goal is to ensure that families seeking public benefits, housing support or other services can receive culturally and linguistically appropriate help.
The FRC, established in 1999, brings together 24 city, county, state and nonprofit agencies in a single location. Services offered include mental health counseling, employment support, benefit assistance, financial coaching and homelessness prevention. The Human Services Department leads the center’s operations.
The Welcome Center is key to making services accessible to Fremont’s diverse community. EBAC has long provided multilingual family support services through its Fremont Healthy Start program, which began in 1992.
Funding for the first year of the agreement has already been set aside in the city’s FY 2025–26 adopted budget. The program will be paid for through the Family Resource Center Fund and has no impact on the city’s General Fund.
City staff noted that the action is exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act, as it is considered an administrative action without the potential for environmental impact.
