Parents and young children in Meadow Creek and Kaslo will have more services thanks a grant of $52,000 from the Ministry of Children and Family Development's BC Early Years program.
The funding will be divided between the North Kootenay Lake Family Centre at Jewett Elementary in Meadow Creek and the Kaslo Family Centre at J.V. Humphries school in Kaslo.
According to Sarah Evans of North Kootenay Lake Community Services which runs both programs, the funding will add the following services:
- A parent and child interactive program that includes evening gym time, dinner, and story reading
- Enhancement of existing programs in Meadow Creek
- An additional staff person between the two programs
- Travel vouchers for families, some of whom travel over an hour to get to the programs
- Expansion of the pregnancy support program from twice-monthly to weekly
- More hours for the coordinators to give one on one support and advocacy to clients.
“We’re thrilled with the opportunity to enhance the experiences and supports for families in our communities,” Evans said. “We’ve had the honour of providing services to families with young children for many years through our Family Resource Centres. The BC Early Years Centre initiative will allow us to increase services to these families and also increase accessibility for new families.”
The two programs already provide a variety of services including pregnancy support, early learning and literacy, the Strong Start program, the Nobody's Perfect parenting program, parent-child Mother Goose program, and a parent support circle. Evans says 230 people attended the two programs its last year, amounting to a total of 1832 visits.