Our Story

    

1. History and background info

2. Partnerships

3. Families using the centre

4. Funding

5. The Five Family Places Partnership
      

 

    1. History and Background Information
Mount Pleasant Family Centre was inaugurated as a non-profit society in 1976 in response to the needs of local mothers for a safe, child-friendly space to meet and was originally located on 6^th Avenue and Main Street in the heart of old Mount Pleasant, in East Vancouver. In 1980 the society negotiated with the Vancouver Park Board to move to its present location, leasing the then vacant clubhouse in the northwest corner of Robson Park, at St. George Street and East13^th Avenue.
The parent volunteer board worked with staff to raise money and renovate the building, equipping it with a playroom and adult lounge areas which remain at its core to this day. The purpose of the society is as relevant now as it was then:

	- To promote and provide neighbourhood facilities for family related services and learning skill programs with an intervention, prevention and educational focus.
	- To provide a drop-in centre for parents and children in the community
	- To promote and organize workshops and other activities designed to develop skills for family living
	- To assist in counseling and referrals to other community agencies.

Mount Pleasant Family Centre has grown since then into a busy resource centre for both adult caregivers and their children. The core drop-in program is offered twice daily 4 days a week to families with young children living in and around Mount Pleasant. Morning and afternoon two hour play sessions offer a range of staff supervised developmental play opportunities in a well equipped playroom. An opportunity for outdoor play offers a range of gross motor activities including pushing and riding toys (many families live in multi-occupied or apartment dwellings with no safe outdoor space) While their children learn through play, the parents and caregivers are invited to join informal discussion groups and workshops, to ‘take a break’ and to connect with other parents. All parents and caregivers participate with their children in a staff facilitated family time with stories, singing and snack. Mount Pleasant Family Centre currently records an average of up to 100 child and adult attendances a day to its open access programs.  The remaining fifth day is reserved for structured or pre-registered programs (parent education  and personal growth workshops, Nobody’s Perfect Parenting, ‘Baby and Me Mother Goose’ are examples)

    2. Partnerships are important in the centre’s daily work.  
The community health nurse, dental nurses, children’s outreach librarian, and the mobile toy lending library all visit regularly.  Up to 75% of regularly visiting families come here ‘by word of mouth’ but many already have information about the centre from their local health nurse or neighbourhood house. Families are also referred directly by health, social service and other community agencies.

   3. Families using the Family Centre reflect the richly diverse population of Mount Pleasant today. All are families taking care of young children in what is often an economically and socially challenged environment. In addition many are not only new to parenting but also new to parenting in Canada, are isolated from traditional extended family and not yet familiar with local community supports. Recent surveys indicate that many families using our centre have immigrated to Canada in the last few years, that others are only recently living in Vancouver from other areas of B.C. or Canada and many of ‘our’ parents speak English as a second or additional language. Of these the majority speak Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Tamil (Sri Lanka) as their first language but other Eastern European and Asian languages and cultures are also represented.  For many the Centre is a first opportunity to develop new friendships, to practice social English skills in a safe and supportive atmosphere and to become part of their community. For their children it is a safe and happy place to grow and to learn.

    4. Funding for Mount Pleasant Family Centre comes from all three levels of government – federal (CAPC), provincial (MCFD, Vancouver Coastal Health and B.C. Gaming) and municipal (City of Vancouver) as well as grants sought from charitable foundations and organizations, donations from local service clubs and businesses and the supporting memberships of users and friends. In recent years funding for children and families at risk (CAPC) has also allowed us to implement popular and innovative kindergarten readiness ABC Time and Story and Science programs and to enhance our early intervention screening and child development programs, while funding through the ‘Open Doors to Learning’ Vancouver initiative has allowed us to offer a twice weekly parent/caregiver and child family drop-in at Kimount Boys and Girls Club, North of Broadway.

    5. Five Family Places Partnership of Vancouver
Mount Pleasant Family Centre has been actively involved with the BC Association of Family Resource Programs for a number of years. Mount Pleasant is also one of the founding members and lead administrative agency for the Five Family Places Partnership of Vancouver – a unique partnership of the ‘stand alone’ Family Resource Programs which all offer open community access daily drop-in resource programs to all families raising young children in the city.  The partnership aims to be a strong voice for family resource programs and early child development initiatives in the city and fosters and promotes ‘quality practices’ in our individual family resource programs. (see links for websites of the the other Family Places in the partnership)