The Lakeview Parent Link Centre’s in Eckville and Sylvan Lake said thank you and farewell on Friday.
Lakeview Parent Link Centre - Eckville hosted a Thank You Party the morning of Feb. 28, while the centre in Sylvan Lake held a Wrap-Up Celebration in the afternoon.
“We wanted to just have the opportunity to thank families and just give them one more chance for everybody to get together and hang out and just see the sort of Parent Link community that we have built,” said Heather Sweetnam, family programs supervisor, at the Thank You Party in Eckville.
She added the parties were to show their appreciation for all the support the community has provided throughout the years.
“We’re just really hoping moving forward that families are still able to connect with each other and get their little kids together and do things outside of what we do,” Sweetnam said.
Parent Link is done across Alberta as of March 31, but they have put in an expression of interest for a Family Resource Network.
Currently, Sweetnam says, they are waiting to hear back from the provincial government as to whether or not the proposal was successful. The news is supposed to be due in March.
The proposal was put in for the Sylvan Lake, Eckville and Benalto areas to be able to continue serving those communities in some capacity.
Even if the proposal is successful a centre will not be re-opening in Eckville, but a central office will be set up in Sylvan Lake.
“We already have some other ideas of where we can run programs and support the community, but it’s all dependent on funding,” said Sweetnam of the future for Eckville.
As of right now Sweetnam is unsure what the program will look like for the area if the proposal is successful.
Despite the end of Parent Link, she says, she hopes everyone continues to build the relationships between families they have connected with and spread the “it takes a village to raise a kid” mentality.
She also hopes parents can lean on each other for support because “parenting can be really tough.”