On-LIne "Hub" for Families Unveiled
By Contributor
Where can parents go to find information on events for young children, services and resources and articles of interest? familyactionnetwork.ca is your one-stop online hub for parents in the Lower Columbia region.
The Family Action Network (FAN) polled over 100 local parents in 2014 to find out what kinds of information they would like to see in an online hub for young families. familyactionnetwork.ca is the result of input from local families and family service providers from around our region. Families can visit the website from their mobile devices, tablets or home computers and find out what activities and programs are happening in our area. They can also link to regional health and development and community services.
Articles of interest to local parents are posted to the website from FAN Members such as Trail FAIR, Kootenay Family Place, CBAL and Interior Health.
“Families have been asking for a ‘one-stop’ online resource for years”, says FAN Regional Coordinator Christy Anderson. “We are excited for the launch and for this resource to become a reality.”
Local web development company ProCreative Design Lab is the creative force behind the website’s hosting, design, development and ongoing support and maintenance. “Wally has been great to work with and has put together a website that is mobile optimized so parents can access it from their smart phones, tablet devices or home computers.”
“FAN heard loud and clear that the website needed to be accessible on all kinds of devices” says Anderson. “We’re really thrilled with how the website is looking and working on all different types of devices.”
The site has benefits for many different user groups. Local realtors working with families who are relocating to our region can share the site, allowing a ‘sneak-peak’ into the many resources we have here for young families. Family doctors looking to connect parents with young children to local resources will also find the site useful. With plans for ongoing updates and improvements to the site, it is sure to maintain a ‘favorites’ spot on many people’s personal computing devices.
The site offers the following features to provide information:
Event Calendar:
Families looking for fun events, ongoing programming or community celebrations to participate in can click on the event calendar. The calendar is sorted by community, and lists information, contact information and location for such programming as: Mother Goose, Strong Start, Building Beautiful Babies (one of the programs of Trail FAIR), PreSchool Reading hour and more! Most of the listings are for parent participation programs that are free, but there are also some listings for families such as the Twoonie swim at Trail Aquatic and Leisure Centre. There are listings here for all five communities in our region. So nice to have them all in one place!
Service Directory:
When families need to connect to our community services and/or agencies that provide services to families, they can find them here. Listings are broken into several categories including Health and Development Services and Community Support services. Each listing has its own page and there is contact information for that organization, as well as a location map. Need to know where to go to take your child for health checks and immunizations? It will be in our service directory. We heard from many families (some of them new to the area, but many long time residents) that they are not sure where to go if they need to connect to services in our community. We hope that this service directory will help them to find help when they need it. If families need additional support to connect to the service agencies, they can call FAN for assistance.
Ages and Stages:
This section features the age-based milestones that correspond to children’s development from birth through to age five. Families can click in this section to familiarize themselves with what milestones a child is likely to achieve around a certain age. Knowing what to expect in your child’s development gives you a way to that your child is on track and also helps a parent to know when to ask further questions, if they are seeing an area where they feel their child may be delayed. Just like dental checks, doctor’s visits and other care we regularly give to our children, the Family Action Network believes that families with children between birth and age 5 should check their development early and often. In this way, should a little setback in development be discovered, the family can connect to the supports they need to help address the delay and ensure a small bump doesn’t become a larger hurdle before the child enters the school system.
FAN News/Blog Articles:
Informational articles around children’s development, exciting local announcements that may concern families, local programming for families, parenting strategies and more will be uploaded regularly to the website by FAN members such as Kootenay Family Place, the Child Care Resource and Referral Agency at Trail FAIR, Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy, Interior Health and others. Check back often for articles of interest!
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