LAC LA BICHE - Those who attend the ‘It Starts with Hope’ parent support program with their children and youth on Nov. 19 at Portage College will not only have the opportunity to interact with each other but will also learn how to make gingerbread.
While creating designs out of this sweet treat seems like an activity aimed primarily at kids, according to Christine Martin, a community outreach worker with Lac La Biche County FCSS, it’s actually the adults who will be putting their artistic skills to work.
While the adults are working, children will be having fun in the childcare area where they will also have supper and enjoy some supervised play in the gymnasium.
“This leaves the parents time to enjoy the activity with other parents - to just connect informally as they do something enjoyable,” Martin told Lakeland This Week.
During this event, participants will learn how to make gingerbread, create different designs with it, and get decorating ideas. The evening, Martin explained, is for any parent with a child aged 7-18. No baking or decorating experience is required.
The ‘It Starts with Hope’ program started during the COVID-19 pandemic and originated because there was a sense that families felt isolated. The parent support program strives to bring connection to families and make them feel less alone.
As Martin explains, it is part of the Family Resource Centre’s (FRN) suite of programs that build caregiver capacity and is a partnership with Successful Families-Successful Kids. The program, she said, is offered six times a year, with staff alternating monthly between presentations and fun activities.
‘It Starts with Hope,’ Martin continued, is important because it helps bring parents together to share concerns and experiences, while also giving them an evening of information and resources that will help them in their parenting journey.
“We strive to remove as many barriers as we can, so we provide free childcare and also a meal,” added Martin.
FCSS runs other supportive programs, which Martin says encourage healthy conversations between parents and children and uses the same process of having an activity for participants to focus on while having conversations.
In the spring, the organization has a book club, which is also a parent support group that places emphases on subject matter through exploration of a book on parenting.
“We have learned over the years that simply having people sit around to discuss issues is less effective than having something to keep their hands busy while discussing various topics that can be difficult for parents and families,” she said.
Those who are interested in participating in the next event, which will be held at the Portage College Lac La Biche Campus on Nov. 19 from 5:30-7:30 p.m., can contact Martin at 780-520-7183, or stop by the Bold Center Front Desk.
