ATHABASCA – If you’ve ever asked a seniors advocate for help with a government application, or your child played catch or read a story with a school mentor during their lunch break, you’ve taken part in a program ran by the Athabasca County Family and Community Support Services (FCSS).
Manager Debbie Wood told Athabasca County councillors at their April meeting that their programs cover “everything from birth to seniors, and everyone in-between” — councillors voted 7-0 to accept Wood’s presentation as information as reeve Brian Hall and Coun. Joe Gerlach were absent.
This was the first of the three annual presentations that Wood will be giving over the next week, as she is scheduled in for the Town of Athabasca’s council meeting April 18, and the Village of Boyle’s April 19.
Wood started off acknowledging that, while COVID-19 still made the year “interesting” they were “glad to be able to open our doors again, and we’ve had really good response to our in-person services, although we have had those who prefer virtual services.”
What does FCSS do?
“We do a range of things, as well as the programming. There’s a lot of community events, you’ll see us around at different events,” said Wood during her introduction. “We chair our interagency which has quite a range of different services … It’s five times a year, and it’s all the services in the area that serve families and sheltering.”
The manager was also proud to announce an extension to their Family Resource Network (FRN) grant, which is what funds all the hub services that are offered through the FRN, which serves Athabasca, Boyle, Grassland, Rochester, Caslan, Calling Lake, Lac La Biche, and Plamondon. The FRN serves as a “hub” and makes referrals out to the “spokes” which includes Athabasca County FCSS, Lac La Biche County FCSS, and Healthy Families Healthy Futures, which provides home visitation services. The network focuses on strengthening parental knowledge, providing coping and problem-solving skills, improving child and youth development, and increasing access to community supports and resources.
If that explanation confused you, you aren’t alone; Wood wryly noted that “I wish it was simple, but it’s not. For each one of our programs, there might be a slightly different service area, for who we are serving.”
Highlights
Wood’s report highlighted three programs: the Family School Liaison (FSL) program, the seniors advocate program, and the Athabasca Mentorship program, all of which had great years.
The FSL provided services to 106 students, predominantly from Athabasca and Boyle but also from the surrounding hamlets. The program “provides one-on-one support to meet the social and emotional needs of children and youth who are experiencing difficulties” according to the FCSS report.
The program, which is also supported by Aspen View Public Schools, is aimed at preventing problems, and is meant to be a voluntary, short-term support. According to a survey that FCSS conducted on its programs, 92 per cent of youth who took part believed that they’ve increased their knowledge of the tools they can use to overcome challenges, and 80 per cent of youth felt more confident in themselves are taking part in FSL.
The seniors advocate program might be the busiest of the three; Wood said that the current advocate was always busy, and that an administrative worker was currently undergoing training to help with some of the load. “There’s only one of her, and if you look at the stats, that’s not nearly enough,” said Wood.
There were 570 phone inquiries in 2022, and 176 in-person visits from seniors, the majority of which were looking for assistance in accessing provincial and federal support. Senior Symposiums were also held in the summer in Athabasca and Boyle, which saw a further 121 attendees, and left 96 per cent feeling like they knew more about community resources then they had before. Lastly, a support group for partners who were dealing with a loved one with Alzheimer’s started up in September.
The final highlight from the presentation was the mentorship program, which pairs trained adult volunteers with Grade 3 and 4 students at Whispering Hills Primary School, and Landing Trail Intermediate School. Wood’s presentation billed it as a joint project between FCSS, Aspen View Schools, and Alberta Health Services Mental Health, with 323 sessions held over 2022. During her presentation, Wood’s mentioned that talks had been underway to try and expand the program into the Boyle area, but plans had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
