Several dignitaries cut the ribbon marking the official opening of the centre. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

prevention

Early Years Family Resource Centre opens in La Ronge

Dec 19, 2019 | 12:29 PM

Families in the tri-communities will now have better access to supports during their children’s early years of development and growth.

The new nisto ihtāwina Early Years Family Resource Centre officially opened Wednesday during a special ceremony, which included Saskatchewan Lt-Gov. Russell Mirasty and other invited guests. This past spring, $1.5 million in funding was announced through the Canada-Saskatchewan Early Learning and Child Care Agreement to create seven new Early Years Family Resource Centres in the Battlefords, Meadow Lake, Moose Jaw, Nipawin, Prince Albert, Saskatoon and La Ronge. Nisto ihtāwina, meaning ‘three communities’ is the first to open.

“It’s a space where families can come with their children between the ages of zero to five and we’re here to support them in all aspects,” KidsFirst North Program Manager Rebecca Galloway said. “We are so excited to have everyone here today. To see everyone who came to support this centre is very exciting, and we hope they will all come back and see us again.”

The goal of the new centre is to provide a single location where families with young children can access reliable information, supports and programming at no cost. Galloway mentioned they have a mental health counsellor on staff to do assessments and there will be a big focus on child-parent interaction.

At its peak, Galloway would like to see 80 to 90 per cent of parents with young children utilize the centre. She said Sandy Bay already has a centre in place and, in 2018, they received more than 4,000 visits by the community’s approximately 700 residents. Centres in Yorkton and Regina have also been busy.

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“We are very happy La Ronge was chosen, and we’re hopeful it will continue the support and the success we saw in Sandy Bay,” Galloway said. “We’re really looking forward to the opportunities this could provide.”

In his speech, Mirasty also spoke about the importance of early childhood development. During his time with the RCMP and later on, he said discussions were often had about how to make communities safer for young people.

“When you change the first five years, you change everything,” Mirasty said. “For me, that really summarizes it completely. If we can provide those supports early on, for both the child and the family, we’re all in a better place.”

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno