Family Programs at the Fernwood Community Centre continue to flourish in 2019. Here’s a look at a week in the life of our family programs team.
›› Shonna Bell
We start Monday mornings out right with our Parent-Child Mother Goose program. This free, drop-in program welcomes anyone who wants to come sing with their baby. Songs are learnt over weeks of repetition and parents leave with an increased repertoire of songs to sing.
Most families in Fernwood know that Mondays are Family Dinner night at the Fernwood Community Centre and have been for the last 5 years. Dinner is at 5pm. We have also welcomed new chef Patrick Gleeson to the centre. It’s his goal to have a vegetarian and vegan option at each meal—although this cannot be guaranteed every time.
On Tuesdays, the Fernwood team heads to the Quadra Village Community Centre to provide the Victoria Best Babies Program to families in Quadra Village. The group starts at 11am and lunch is at noon. This is a free, registered program for women facing challenging life circumstances.
Meanwhile, at the Fernwood Community Centre on Tuesdays, there is the free Family Law Clinic. This year we have a new team of lawyers who are excited to be providing family members with a 30 minute legal consultation. This program is by appointment only and an intake form must be completed before an appointment can be booked.
Victoria Best Babies is back at the Fernwood Community Centre on Wednesdays for our post-natal program. Lunch is at 11:30am and the group starts at 12pm. This free, registered program is for women facing challenging life circumstances. Parents and their children can attend for up to one year.
Thursday mornings is our Family Resource Program and play group. We have free play from 9:30am-10:30am, then clean-up and snack time (provided), ending with music by Ian Sirias at 11am. At the program, you will almost always find a large table of donated clothing and other items to take with you as well as Family Support staff to talk with. Every other Thursday, we have a COBS bread donation—so if you are missing it at George Jay that week you can always come by.
Thursdays we have our Victoria Best Babies prenatal program. Lunch is at 11:30am and the group starts at 12pm. This is a free, registered program for women facing challenging life circumstances. Parents and their children can attend for up to one year. This month we are excited to have a prenatal birth educator, a doula, and a yoga teacher visiting the program. There will be yoga with Flo on the first Thursday of each month.
Finally, on Fridays, our Family Resource Program and play group runs again. It is a very similar format to Thursdays. We have free play from 9:30am-10:30am, then clean-up time, snack time (provided), ending with a fun art project at 11am.
Some upcoming workshops are our Free Tax Clinic, Nobody’s Perfect, and Ready to Rent. Watch the Village Vibe for more information on these resources.
Family Programs staff are available by phone or email to advise and connect families with community resources that are available. These resources could include housing and the BC housing registry, pregnancy related resources, other community centres, parenting programs, and more. To get in touch, call 250-381-1552 extension 100 and ask for the Family Programs team or email shonna@fernwoodnrg.ca.
