ATHABASCA – The local Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) branch had a busy 2024, according a year-end report received by Athabasca County, the town of Athabasca, and the village of Boyle over the last few weeks.
FCSS manager Debbie Wood has been making the rounds to the local councils to update them on what the organization is across the three communities, ranging from support for seniors to a variety of parenting classes for new parents.
One of the busiest people was the region’s seniors advocate, Kim Lewis, who dealt with 493 phone calls and 211 office visits in 2024. According to Wood’s report, the majority of inquiries involved assisting seniors in accessing provincial and federal supports including the Canadian Pension Plan and Old Age Security funds, as well as more local resources like healthcare, home care, and transportation.
Lewis and her team recently completed their two annual seniors symposiums in Athabasca and Boyle which were well received with over 90 seniors participating.
Many of FCSS’s programs are based out of Athabasca, also staffers are starting to run more “pop-up” events in Boyle and the county’s hamlets. In Boyle, the family outreach worker will be continuing to meet with families on a regular basis, and will be looking to continue summer programming in the village at the spray park or the community centre basement, depending on Mother Nature.
“And, of course, we do have lots of that will travel from here to Athabasca to programs at the centre,” added Wood during her June 18 presentation to village councillors.
FCSS has also been working with school-aged children over the last two years thanks to a pilot project with Aspen View Public Schools for a mental health program. Sessions included conflict resolution skills for kids, and programming for parents.
“It went really well, the reviews and feedback from the kids was great so we’ll look at offering that, and we’ll continue on with some parenting programs, even though the funding’s now ended for that pilot project,” said Wood.
During the June 17 town council meeting, Wood clarified that the program would not be continuing next year. The family school liaison program, which helped 85 students in seven schools including Wandering River and Rochester, will continue.
“My child has learned many new skills that help her daily. She still at times will forget but as soon as she has a gentle reminder she gets back on track. While she continues to need help, she wouldn’t be in the good position she is in if it wasn’t for the program. We are all extremely grateful for the program and everything it has done for her,” said an anonymous parent who was quoted in Wood’s report.
One organization, many hats
Boyle Mayor Colin Derko expressed his concern for the ever-growing scope of services FCSS provides, saying his municipality would be happy to help lobby for more funding for all the work the service provides.
“You have always said that’s the nature of the program sometimes,” said Derko.
“But I also worry about you and your team tiring. You guys never seem to do a bad job at anything, so it seems you’re a victim of your own success.”
Mental health has been an ongoing topic at the village, including during the quarterly RCMP reports, and Derko touched on the impact it can have on a community when it isn’t addressed.
The solution, according to Wood, is more preventative programming like the work being done at Aspen View.
“Sometimes, they need that step to get past and deal with some therapy before they can do that goal planning or work on the family as a whole,” said Wood.
Wood said the organization received slightly more money this year thanks to the inclusion of the summer villages of Bondiss and South Baptiste, bringing their total municipalities served count to seven, but more lobbying was always welcome.
For more information, including total service numbers for FCSS’s different programming streams, Wood’s complete presentation can be found in the June 17 and 18 council agendas for the town of Athabasca and the village of Boyle, as well as the June 17 agenda for the Athabasca County committee of the whole meeting.
The report can also be found on FCSS’s website here.
–with files from Lexi Freehill
