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Alone for the holidays
News Posted On Dec 20, 2017

Alone for the holidays

Holidays can be a lonely time for some. If you end up by yourself, there are a lot of creative ways to overcome the feeling of isolation. No matter the time of year or season, develop life skills to avoid and intervene with loneliness because research…

Drop-in counselling program continues to grow
News Posted On Dec 06, 2017

Drop-in counselling program continues to grow

Our free drop-in counselling program is expanding again! Counselling is now available on Mondays at the Highlands Edmonton Public Library Branch from 1 to 4 PM and at the Penny McKee – Abbottsfield EPL Branch from 5 to 8 PM. With these new additions,…

Elaine’s story
News Posted On Dec 01, 2017

Elaine’s story

Elaine has been seeing a mental health therapist at The Family Centre for five months, but coming in for the first appointment was not easy for her. “I sat in the parking lot for 40 minutes and did some soul searching before I decided to come in. I…

Should you let your child face consequences?
News Posted On Nov 01, 2017

Should you let your child face consequences?

Being a good parent does not mean that you should always shelter your child and fix things for them. In fact, letting your child face consequences can be a great way to guide their behaviour.   A natural consequence is a straightforward, unavoidable…

Helping children cope with school-based anxiety
News Posted On Aug 29, 2017

Helping children cope with school-based anxiety

It’s that time of year again when families start to prepare their children for the beginning of the new school year. From kindergarten to high school, most children are happily anticipating meeting a new teacher, making friends, and undertaking new…

Dylan’s Story
News Posted On Aug 23, 2017

Dylan’s Story

Before coming to live in our Caspian reunification home in January 2016, Dylan lived at home and struggled with his mental health and issues around being transgender. Dylan quickly settled in and made Caspian a home. Stuffies, pillows, and plants started…

How do you create a healthy family environment?
News Posted On Aug 09, 2017

How do you create a healthy family environment?

Talk to any busy mom or dad, and you know that raising a family can be a challenging undertaking. We usually develop our family structure based on how we were raised. It’s often referred to as our “normal” and the only thing we know. These behaviours…

Trevor’s story
News Posted On Jul 25, 2017

Trevor’s story

Vince and Leona had last seen their grandson Trevor when he was 12 years old and visiting them in Ontario during a summer break. After that visit, Vince and Leona had tried to keep in touch with their grandson in Edmonton through Skype. Each time they…

Martina’s Story
News Posted On Jun 21, 2017

Martina’s Story

In the fall of 2016, Martina, a mother of two, was not in a good place. "My son was incarcerated, and it was very hard for me. I became depressed and closed off. The principal at my daughter’s school noticed that I wasn’t doing well and asked if…

Letter to the Child Intervention Panel
News Posted On Jun 15, 2017

Letter to the Child Intervention Panel

We sent the following letter to the Child Intervention Panel on behalf of the eight Edmonton community Collaborative Service Delivery (CSD) lead agencies and Edmonton Area Child and Family Services. May 30, 2017 On behalf of the eight Edmonton community…

The Family Centre participates in BarnRaise Edmonton
News Posted On Mar 24, 2017

The Family Centre participates in BarnRaise Edmonton

How to improve early childhood development for a poverty-free future in Edmonton? This question was the challenge at BarnRaise. BarnRaise is a conference that brings together community organizations, design facilitators, and participants to collaborate…

Our success coach wins an award
News Posted On Mar 10, 2017

Our success coach wins an award

Kudos to our success coach Matt Wiebe, who won an Edmonton Public Schools’ district recognition award along with the mental health collaborative team at Lillian Osborne high school. “Thanks to the Mental Health Collaborative team, the dialogue around…

Kinship family wins an award
News Posted On Dec 28, 2016

Kinship family wins an award

We were thrilled to learn that a family that we have been supporting won the ‘Kinship Family of the Year’ award for Child and Family Services Region 6 (Edmonton). The family includes Dorothy and her grandchildren, siblings Lisa and Jordan. Dorothy…

News Posted On Oct 21, 2016

Neighbourhood Empowerment Team presentation at a policing conference

The Family Centre is part of Edmonton’s Neighbourhood Empowerment Team (NET), along with the City of Edmonton Community Services, Edmonton Police Service, and United Way of the Alberta Capital Region. This week our Andrew Pahl will be co-presenting…

News Posted On Sep 27, 2016

Breakfast program at a school

Tannis, our success coach at an Edmonton school, and Sarah, our youth liaison, noticed that more and more students were hungry. A survey confirmed those suspicions: 20% of students said they were coming to school hungry all or most of the time. As they…

News Posted On Aug 08, 2016

Parenting Workshops Video

The Family Centre had the wonderful opportunity to work with 780Film—an Edmonton-based, student-run film project that aims to provide local non-profit organizations with high-quality, creative videos. The U of A students, Jordan and Kennedy, provided…

News Posted On Jul 26, 2016

Announcement: New CEO

On behalf of The Family Centre’s Board of Directors, we welcome our 9th CEO Pauline Smale to her new position. The Board has given careful consideration to the strategic leadership required to innovate and deliver outcome based services, as well…

Fundraiser for the United Way
News Posted On Jul 26, 2016

Fundraiser for the United Way

As The Family Centre is a United Way member agency, our employees experience the positive impact that United Way has in our community firsthand. Each year we run a United Way workplace campaign. This year’s theme was “You Make a World of Difference”,…

The Alberta Family Wellness Initiative
News Posted On Jul 26, 2016

The Alberta Family Wellness Initiative

The Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) is a multi-disciplinary initiative that connects early brain and biological development and children’s mental health with addiction research, prevention, and treatment. The AFWI seeks to translate current…

News Posted On Jul 26, 2016

The Way In

The Way In Program is an innovative partnership between Edmonton Public Schools, Alberta Health Services: Mental Health & Addictions, B&GBigs, Kids Up Front and The Family Centre which supports teens and their families to create brighter futures. This…

The Family Centre acknowledges that we are on Treaty 6 territory, a traditional meeting ground, gathering place, and traveling route for the Cree, Saulteaux, Blackfoot, Métis, Dene, and Nakota Sioux. We acknowledge all the many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit whose footsteps have marked these lands for centuries.

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