North Rocky View Community Links Society (Community Links) is also a Family Resource Network offering high-quality prevention and early intervention services and supports for children and youth, aged 0 to 18 years old and their parents/caregivers through a ‘hub and spoke’ model of service delivery.
As a Hub for North Rocky View Region (including Airdrie, Beiseker, Crossfield, Irricana, and surrounding North Rocky View County), Community Links is providing the physical centre and is the anchor organization that arranges the delivery of a full array of supports and services geared towards supporting the network, the community and families.
Our Family Resource Network has three spokes. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary and Area with their Mentoring Program, Closer to Home Community Services Society providing their Child and Youth Social Skills Development Program and Home Visitation and Community Links with a series of programs geared towards building Child Development and Caregiver Capacity.
As a “Hub and Spoke” service delivery model, our agencies together will focus on:
strengthening parenting and caregiving knowledge
enhancing social supports
supporting coping and problem-solving skills
providing access to community supports and resources
improving child and youth development
building resiliency
fostering well-being
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary and Area
((BBBS) mentoring programs are community and school-based programs that facilitate a natural supports relationship between a young person and a caring adult or Teen Mentor in Airdrie and Area. Our programs are 1:1, following best practices for effective mentoring. Within the context of this carefully supported relationship, mentees build executive function skills, improve their social-emotional skills and resiliency, and benefit from a natural support who can facilitate other connections in the community. Research shows that these skills are developed in children and youth through consistent, supportive relationships with caring adults. For referrals to the program, go to our website at https://bbbscalgary.ca/familyresourcenetwork
Closer to Home’s Healthy Families Home Visitation Program
Provides home visitation services to families with children ranging in age from newborn to 6 years old (at time of referral) who are facing challenges that may negatively impact a child’s development and the family’s well-being. Healthy Families is designed to help parents enhance (the) parenting skills and improve knowledge and understanding of child development, child health, and positive family functioning and in addition, to increase connections with their community to support them and their family. Services are voluntary and include between one to three visits a week in a family’s home and/or community, depending on the needs of the family. An initial screening will assess a family’s eligibility for the program. For a referral to the Program, contact Nikki Bagwell at nbagwell@closertohome.com
Closer to Home’s Child and Youth Social Skill Development Program
Is designed to offer services that facilitate and promote a child/youth’s spiritual, emotional, physical, cognitive, social and emotional development to assist them in reaching their developmental potential. This program will provide youth with opportunities to engage in positive social activities and will employ specific skill-based teaching to strengthen the participants’ social-emotional well-being and community connections. For a referral to the Program, contact Jovanna Rodney at 403-629-4118 or jrodney@closertohome.com
Community Links
Community Links offers several programs and services as part of the Spoke. To find out more about the programs below in the programs section of our website. For more information, please contact Trudy Wilson, Director of Operations, at trudy@nrvcl.ab.ca
· Parent Consultation, https://mycommunitylinks.ca/programs/parent-consultation
· Baby and Beyond, https://mycommunitylinks.ca/programs/baby-beyond
· Baby Kit
· Mini Milestones, https://mycommunitylinks.ca/programs/mini-milestones
· Groups and Workshops
o Parenting Children with ADHD, https://mycommunitylinks.ca/programs/parenting-children-with-adhd
o Parenting Children with Anxiety, https://mycommunitylinks.ca/programs/parenting-children-with-anxiety
o Post Partum, https://mycommunitylinks.ca/programs/post-partum-support
o Raising Children in Canada, https://mycommunitylinks.ca/programs/raisingkidsincanadacrossculturalparenting
o Parenting After Violence, https://mycommunitylinks.ca/programs/parenting-after-family-violence
o Moving Forward After Separation and Divorce, https://mycommunitylinks.ca/programs/moving-forward-for-parents
o Triple P Parenting, https://mycommunitylinks.ca/programs/triple-p-positive-parenting-program-individual-support