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Community Resources for Parents



Ottawa Community Resources
by Monique Staples & Michaela Myles

They say it takes a village to raise a child. The same can be said about nurturing strong mental health within your children. It can feel daunting to find all of these resources by yourself to support your family's mental health - it is for this reason we felt we should bring the village to you! Listed below are three incredibly Ottawa based community resources to help you feel supported as you educate your children about their colourful feelings.


Bethany Hope Centre


https://bethanyhopecentre.org/
820 Woodroffe Ave, Ottawa, ON K2A 3V7 CA
(613) 725-1733

"From Cradle to College - The Bethany Hope Centre exists to improve the well being of pregnant youth and young parent families" (Bethany Hope Centre, 2021, Home Page).

The Bethany Hope Centre offers educational, financial, nutritional, and emotional support to the diverse styles of young parent families in Ottawa. Whether you are looking for support for your children's mental health development or support for yourself as you venture through the colourful emotions of children - the BHC has a resource for you (Bethany Hope Centre, 2021).



Orleans-Cumberland Community Health Centre


https://www.crcoc.ca/en/
240 Centrum Blvd, Orléans, ON K1E 3J4
(613) 830-4357
nperras@croc.ca

The Orleans-Cumberland Community Health Centre has a variety of programming in response to the various needs the community has highlighted. Everything from daily playgroups lead by Early Childhood Educators, accessible food banks, after-school youth programs, medical access, employment coaching, and access to referring families to the various other services available throughout Ottawa. This community centre is a great resource to take advantage of when looking to support a child's strong mental health. This community centre is a great resource to reach out to if you do not have access to have a family physician. They also provide regular drop-in visits with Ottawa Public Health nurses who work through the "Healthy Babies, Healthy Kids" program to access young infant's developments (Orleans-Cumberland Community Health Centre, 2021).

Mothercraft Ottawa


http://mothercraft.com/
475 Evered Avenue
(613) 728-1839
info@mothercraft.com

Mothercraft Ottawa strives to support young parent families through a variety of playgroups, educational seminars, individual counselling or even setting a parent up with a volunteer parents companion. If you are looking for additional support as a parent, Mothercraft Ottawa will have a service to refer you to (Mothercraft Ottawa, 2021).


If ever there is an area in which you feel you and your children needs additional support, ask the educated and supportive staff at these agencies! Family support agencies pride themselves on being interconnected and aware of the variety of other services around Ottawa. You are not alone, you have a village behind you and they want to help you find it.

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