By Catherine Robinson Parent Link
Hidden back behind the mall is one of Stettler’s hidden treasures. Stettler Parent Link Centre has been in operation for around 10 years now, but many residents do not know about our services. We are a non-profit organization that is run through McMan Youth, Child, and Family Services. At our centre we provide universal programs (free of charge) to meet the needs of all types of parents and caregivers.
We offer Early Childhood development programs, such as fine motor, sensory, and gross motor, where parents can assist children in developing this skills with supportive staff there to help them if needed. We do Parent Education programs, such as Triple P, Bringing Baby Home, and Super Dad’s Super Kids. These programs are put in place to help parents, at any stage, learn positive ways of handling the different aspects that come along with parenting.
We also do parent support. Parents and caregivers can come to the centre to learn new things, and to meet other parents/caregivers. It is a way to positively connect with other members of the community.
Another thing that is offered is information and referrals. If parents have questions about anything that we do not have the answer to or are unable to provide that service for them, we will refer them to somewhere that can, usually local. We also can support parents through some processes, like registrations, if they need assistance. And finally, if we are asked certain questions that we know the answer to, we will provide that information to them.
Lastly, we do developmental screening. We are trained to do the ASQ and ASQ SE. We can assist parents with completing the ASQ, if needed, and they get marked on site. Staff will then go over the results with the parents and take steps to give the parents any support, referrals, or just a list of activities to do with their children.
We partner with many places within Stettler and surrounding areas to help bring in the best programming possible. We offer Infant Nutrition with Karen Olafsen, the dietician from Alberta Health Services, breastfeeding and other information from Lori Anderson who is a public health nurse in Stettler, and many more.
We also travel to different communities, like Botha, Donalda and Erskine, to take our services there for those who do not want to travel. We are also adding Castor back to our list of outreach areas, and plan to bring out fun, new, informative, programs to that area.
- Catherine Robinson works at Parent Link and is Stettler PLC Coordinator, Superdad facilitator, Bringing Baby Home facilitator and Triple P facilitator.