Al Ritchie Family Wellness Project - Regina, Saskatchewan

In 1996, parents from the Regina community Al Ritchie East began asking their Community Association if there was anything that could be done to make the neighbourhood an easier place to raise children.

The area is cut off from the rest of the city by three main artery roads and a ring road that circles Regina. This creates a high level of isolation for the members of the community.

Many of the families in the neighbourhood are headed by single parents, with low incomes, and there is a high degree of social isolation in addition to the geographical isolation.

In the winter of 1996-97 the concept of the Al Ritchie Family Wellness Centre was born. The CAPC project, now located in a strip mall in the centre of the community, is sponsored by the Community Association, the Health Action Centre and the Cornwall Alternative School, which offers the use of its gymnasium, library and computers.

The centre has become a hub of community activity. It is a place filled with the noises of children having fun and adults enjoying each other's company and supporting one another. About 20 people come to the Centre each day on average, although Angela Mann, the centre's coordinator, says some days it can be as high as 40 or 50.

“I think we offer a safe environment that is welcoming to people - the sense of community ownership that has developed is a unique feature”, says Mann.

The Family Wellness Centre offers a variety of activities throughout the year. There is at least one organized activity every day of the week - some are for kids, some are for parents and some are for both the children and their parents.

Coffee time drop-ins for parents and kids are offered twice daily, Monday through Friday. Organized activities include such programs as Music and Movement, Kids Craft and Drama, Tiny Tots Computers, and Parent and Tot play times. Come and Play is a respite program where parents can drop off their children to play for two hours to get their errands done or simply to enjoy some quiet time to themselves. Lunch is offered twice weekly - on Tuesdays it's a neighbourhood pot-luck, and on Thursdays it's provided by the Health District. Healthy snacks are also offered at all activities.

A new program called Family Fun Reading encourages parents to read with their children. By including the whole family, it addresses adult literacy issues as well as introducing children to the pleasure of reading. “We're trying to show how much fun reading with your kids can be”, Mann says.

During the summer months, the Wellness Centre offers activities for kids who are gearing up to go to school in the fall. They have just started a summer science program which Mann says acts as an indirect school readiness program.

“There's not really anything else like this in the city - there are lots of other activities but most of them you have to pay for. Everything here is free - we're unique in that way”, says Mann.

The Centre provides some essential services to members of the community. People can donate or obtain used clothing from the clothing bank or attend the monthly community kitchen A community garden is cared for by participants. The wide variety of activities is important and addresses to the divergent needs of parents, Mann says.

“We have people coming at very different stages. Some want to interact with other parents, others to have their basic needs met. And sometimes the parents just need a break.”

People who come to the centre develop relationships with the people they meet that extend outside the Centre. Offers to babysit each others' children, for example, demonstrate the larger support system that now exists.

All but one staff at the Wellness Centre are members of the community, participants (former and current) or come from a community with a similar socioeconomic profile. Mann says that hiring from the area is a high priority, because it keeps the planning and decision-making within the community.

Mann says the best thing about working in a place like the Wellness Centre is “the people that come here. They are so willing to open their lives to you, they share so much of themselves.”

“Everyone really volunteers, whether it be washing, folding (donated clothing), or taking care of the kids. You don't even have to ask people - they just do. We have this fabulous resource,” she says.

“We've been here three years and have seen kids grow up here. Seeing how they change, how they ask to come to the centre, is really great”, Mann says, adding that people who move out of the area often come back to the centre to visit.

Helping kids to grow up strong, safe and healthy is what CAPC is all about. The Al Ritchie Family Wellness Centre is certainly contributing to that goal.