Hand in Hand Parent Link re-opens

Shannon LeClair

Times Reporter

 

The Strathmore Hand in Hand Parent Link Centre officially re-opened its doors on Sept. 17. The Strathmore Parent Link is connected with the Aspen Family and Community Network Society from Calgary.

“It’s a program run by the government of Alberta. They started it so that each region would run their own, and all the programs are at no cost to parents,” said Betty Lepps, manager for Strathmore.  

Lepps said they work with Alberta Health to bring in guest speakers on a variety of topics about childcare and health. 

“We do programming for families zero to six, and (it’s) parents and children together. It’s not a daycare or anything,” said Jeanette MacKay, one of the parent coaches.

Occasionally there will also be parent education workshops during which daycare is provided, but most of the time the focus is on parent and child.      

The idea behind the centre is to offer support to families. The parent coaches are able to provide information, referrals, developmental screening and parenting classes. Mackay said just about any information to do with parenting can be found at the centre.  

The developmental screening can help parents learn where their child is at developmentally for their particular age. If there is anything that needs to be worked on then the parent coaches are available to help guide them. 

Parent Link also provides a place where parents, or parents new to the community, can go to find out about options available to them in town, while meeting other parents.