An individual is off and running with a new initiative in Greene County.

Multicultural Family Resource Center Director Sara Huddleston is originally from the Yucatan Peninsula, southeast of Mexico and moved to Iowa in 1988 to attend Simpson College. She met her future husband while in college, and then they moved to Storm Lake and spent the next 30 years of their lives there. Before taking on her new position as the Multicultural Family Resource Center Director, she served as a panelist in 2022 as a former Storm Lake City Council member, to talk about the cultural diversity that the city saw when Greene County Development Corporation was launching its Nueva Vida En Greene County initiative.

Huddleston points out one of the reasons that Jefferson was an attractive location was the closer proximity to her daughter who lives in Waukee, along with the aesthetics of the community.

“Also that Jefferson is a very nice, unique town. (It’s) very clean, very friendly, it’s perfect. We like the downtown area, the main square with all the flowers, and the courthouse, and all the history of the things around here.    

Huddleston explains that because of her experience in Storm Lake with connecting people of diverse backgrounds to getting them services and resources people needed, she felt she could do the same in Greene County. Part of her responsibilities is going to be working with families who need assistance getting their children registered for school, as well as employers with transitioning employees into their workforce. She notes that she will be meeting with several groups of people, including individuals in the clergy.

“And I thought, ‘This is going to be fantastic.’ We want to talk to them, we want to outreach (with them). They’re the first ones, actually, to find out who is moving to our town because most families, first thing they want to do is to go to church, no matter what religion.” 

Huddleston has been working since June 3rd and she can be reached at Jefferson City Hall, as her office is on the north side of the first floor. Her email address is director@mfrcgcia.org.