Carol Swope, executive director of Home Management Resources, was the featured speaker at the Edwardsburg Area Chamber of Commerce lunch meeting Wednesday. (Leader photo/SCOTT NOVAK)

Carol Swope, executive director of Home Management Resources, was the featured speaker at the Edwardsburg Area Chamber of Commerce lunch meeting Wednesday.

Home Management Resources helps families learn basic life-skills through workshops.

Swope, who replaced founding director Gwenyth Delee after 24 years, told the chamber that there has been some interest in the Edwardsburg area about the services they provide.

Home Management Resources (HMR) currently offers family life seminars and workshops. Back in March, HMR held its first Parent University, which was so well received that plans are under way to hold the program in both the spring and fall.

One of its newest programs is the Broom Closet, which is a workshop that gives low-income families a free cleaning kit after they take the workshop. The kit includes brooms and dust pans, Dawn dish soap, buckets and even directions for making their own cleaning supplies.

The Broom Closet, located at 315 Lincolnway West in Mishawaka, Ind., and is open from 10:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Wednesdays.

“We provide the practical aspects of family living and running a home,” Swope said. “We began this organization 26 years ago with the understanding that there are so many people that just don’t understand the basics of what it takes to run a home smoothly and harmoniously. We have been teaching the basic life seminar for the last 25 years.”

While HMR is located in Indiana, Swope stressed that its services are open to those in Michigan as well. She also noted that HMR is looking at branching out and perhaps holding seminars in conjunction with schools and organizations like the Edwardsburg Food Pantry in the near future.

For more information on HMR or the Broom Closet, call (574) 233-3486.