By meadowlakeNOW

NW Friendship Centre hopes to open a third emergency receiving home

Aug 1, 2017 | 3:38 PM

The North West Friendship Centre opened two emergency receiving homes to the community last year, and have applied to Meadow Lake city council to add another home to their roster.

The organization operates their current homes as a means of temporary shelter for children who have been apprehended by the Ministry of Social Services. The five-bedroom houses are funded by the ministry, are staffed 24/7, and accept children between infant to 12 years old. There are eight full time staff members at each location currently and a pool of roughly 16 casual on-call workers.

Wanda Lantz is the supervisor of three programs at the Friendship Centre – in-home family support, visitation, and emergency receiving homes. She said the ministry approached the centre last year after seeing a need in the community. The two homes were opened in March and July of 2016 with partnerships from the Door of Hope, Meadow Lake Housing Authority and Meadow Lake Native Urban Housing.

“We cover the North, from La Loche all the way to Meadow Lake,” she said. “It was beneficial to have the homes here so the children aren’t too far away and so kids have contact with their families. The third house would bring it to 15 spots in the community.”

She said having emergency homes allows the ministry enough time to find more permanent placements with other family members, friends or foster parents for the apprehended children.  

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“The main reason is to keep kids connected to the communities, culture, and their family,” Lantz said. “When the children come to our homes, they can also access the visiting centre at our Friendship Centre. The ministry refers families and set up visits between parents and children, sometimes on a weekly basis. Having that as an option, especially now that there’s no bus service, the connection to their family is not as broken.”

The staff at the houses operate the homes on a scheduled basis. The night staff are responsible for cleaning, meal prep and checking on the children regularly, and the day staff follow programming and take the children to appointments, among other duties.

“[The houses] very much run like a home,” Lantz said. “There’s lots of learning and crafts and daily schedules that the kids follow when they come.”

A public hearing is set to discuss the potential for the third home council’s upcoming meeting on August 28. If approved, Lantz said she is hoping the new home will be ready for use in the fall.  

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca  

On Twitter @ReporterKath