Slave Lake News
An Important Visitor
WJS Slave Lake Family Service Centre welcomed the Honourable Danielle Larivee (NDP), Minister of Children’s Service, to the program on September 15, 2017.
Ms. Larivee also mentioned WJS Canada on her Twitter account, saying: “Thanks WJS Canada for the tour of the Legacy Centre. Great to chat with our Children’s Services partners right here in my home community!”
FASD Program – The First Year
The WJS Slave Lake FASD program celebrates its one year anniversary in October. The program came about shortly after a number of socially-minded agencies and community members formed an FASD Coalition in Spring 2016.
The coalition hired Patty Gullion as North Zone Keyworker to provide mentorship and awareness/prevention programming. It soon became apparent, however, that the position needed to be split in two to meet the needs of such a large region. Patty Stephen became FASD mentor for Slave Lake and area.
Over the course of the year, the program ballooned in our communities and to ensure continued support of youth, the coalition partnered with a local school to engage WRAP Success Coach, Courtney Harrington to help and in Swan River, a First Nation Parent and Child Assistant mentor was hired to assist Indigenous women with healthy pregnancies and to bring FASD Awareness and Prevention to members of the Swan River Nation and those living in other First Nations in the region.
Congratulations to our Slave Lake staff. These programs are assets, not only to WJS and the FASD network, but to the community and the persons they serve. We are proud of you all!
Further information about the program is available at www.nwcfasd.ca You can also like them on Facebook and/or follow them on Twitter.
BBQ
The Slave Lake office also held a community BBQ in September to raise public awareness and promote our programs. Over 75 community members attended – making the BBQ a huge success!