WFCSS getting ready for a busy fall season

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

Thirty-seven years ago, the Wheatland Family and Community Support Services launched itself into the county, where previously programming was non-existent.
WFCSS launched in 1978, and currently partners up with the Village of Rockyford, Wheatland County, Village of Hussar, Village of Standard, and representatives from the communities to make up its board.
Since then, the service has experienced increasing growth in the number of programs offered and its influence in county communities.
As a result, this fall season will feature some new programs while cultivating old favourites. With the upcoming season quickly approaching, the staff is busy prepping for the fall and addressing the needs of their partners.
“It’s been busy all the way along because we’ve been growing as we’ve been out here,” said Lynn Walker, program coordinator. “There was no programming out here at all when we first started. [The communities] say we really need something like this, and then we find it and offer it to them.”
This year, programs are ranging from the return of the Good Food Box that was initiated in 2014, to Senior Power, which is offered every second year opposite to the Women’s Conference, as well as the new Lunch and Learn program that attracted enough community members in its preliminary phase to launch this fall.
The free program will tackle participation-inspired topics, such as: how to prepare your garden for the fall season, how to deal with procrastination, Christmas on a shoe-string budget, and colours and their effects on energy levels.
WFCSS decided to offer the program as a result of a total of 18 people participating in two previous sessions. The sessions focused on handwriting analysis and it introduced a drum circle.
“The board said go for it, try it out, and see what you think, and I thought we should try this and see what happens,” Walker said. “We have Eagle Lake right close here so I popped over there and said ‘would you sponsor a talk?’ And they said ‘I don’t see why not.'”
While WFCSS is introducing some new programs, it’s also bringing back old favourites. The Good Food Box is gearing up to take orders starting Sept. 8, and Senior Power is scheduled for Sept. 11, held at the Hope Community Covenant Church. The day will be complete with guest speakers and discussion tables where participants can learn about issues surrounding seniors and identify possible gaps in service. The event will include 20 exhibitors, such as: Health and Wellness, Office of the Public Guardian, Alberta Securities, and Alberta Senior Benefits. The church’s hallways will be lined with vendors that will feature Strathmore’s local Wheatland Lodge and the Siksika Medicine Lodge.
Last time the event occurred it experienced a healthy turnout of roughly 80 people; the organization is hoping for a similar result for its third time offering in Strathmore.
With the extreme weather patterns experienced lately and following severe blizzards observed in certain Wheatland County areas two years ago, WFCSS has also been focusing on ramping up emergency services and has helped set up 13 different reception centres in various villages and hamlets. The program showed villages how to utilize their existing structures and prepare emergency kits.
“We’ve done a huge blitz this year,” Walker said. “Our focus has been on emergency management and making sure that they’re up and ready to go for reception centres, so if we have a blizzard in the wintertime, they can set something up to accommodate people that might be driving by.”
On Sept. 16, their annual interagency gathering will also kick off, to bring together non-profit organizations and other support groups.
For more detailed information on the WFCSS programs visit www.wfcss.org.