Closure of Kitchener family resource centre will leave a 'big hole' in community, this mom says
CBC
In 2013, Melynda Pomeroy found herself in a tough spot.
New to Waterloo region and with her family on the east coast, Pomeroy had a new baby and a case of postpartum depression.
Help came in the form of a peer support group called Stork Secrets, run by the Our Place Family Resource Centre. There, Pomeroy could spend time with other parents who knew exactly what she was going through.
"If I hadn't found this group, I don't know. I don't know if I would be here," Pomeroy said.
Today, Pomeroy is concerned that other parents won't have access to the same support she did.
After more than 40 years of operation, Our Place announced this week it plans to close due to changes in its funding.
The resource centre is looking for another organization to take over the Stork Secrets group, but all other operations are set to shut down June 30.
"There's a big hole going to be left in the community," said Pomeroy, who currently sits on the Our Place board of directors.
In recent years, Our Place has received most of its funding from the province's Early ON program.
Now, things are changing, said Peter Sweeney, CEO of the YMCA of Three Rivers, which is the lead agency for Early ON in Waterloo region.
Sweeney explained the Ministry of Education is moving to a new system where Early ON centres will be based out of schools, rather than standalone sites.
The funding that had previously gone to Our Place is now being allocated to a new Early ON Centre at Oak Creek Public School in Kitchener. The school is set to open in September.
"The funding envelope doesn't change," Sweeney said. "We are mandated to shift those resources over time from standalone sites and mobile deliveries to school-based programming."
Sweeney said the YMCA will help support Our Place staff with "redeployment opportunities." In a release, Our Place says staff will also be helped with resume writing and career development.
Shopping local may be the desire, but affordability might decide where shoppers spend their money this Christmas season.
As classes across New Brunswick pause for the holidays, it’s not yet clear which schools are making a dent in chronic absenteeism — a stubborn post-pandemic trend that mostly afflicts the high school cohort, especially in the Anglophone West school district.
CBC Quebec has launched its Make the Season Kind campaign. It's our annual campaign that focuses on food insecurity, while also celebrating kindness, generosity and community spirit around the province.
Premier Wab Kinew says Manitoba will hold a public inquiry as soon as 2026 into the former Progressive Conservative government’s post-election efforts to approve an environmental licence for sand-mining company Sio Silica.
Premier Scott Moe has led the Saskatchewan Party through two straight elections, winning majority governments each time.
Eight weeks after adding a GM BrightDrop van to the fleet of his plumbing and heating business, Marty Salliss has no complaints, only praise.
Nearly half of Alberta’s Grade 6 students failed the provincewide math test in 2024, three years after the province started rolling out its new elementary school curriculum.
Toronto could get new cars on the road whose drivers will never get frustrated by gridlock — because the cars would be driving themselves.
Amidst a cost-of-living crisis, some London-area organizations say they have noticed a decline in donations this holiday season.
Prominent northern leaders have been touting the Arctic economic and security corridor as a "nation-building" project that will bring economic benefits to the two territories it straddles, but others are split on how much good will come out of it.
When the federal government tabled its 2025 budget last month, it included a proposal that tax fraud experts say is long overdue — if also a belated acknowledgement that the Canada Revenue Agency has been repeatedly duped into paying out untold millions in bogus tax refunds to scammers.
Talking with an AI chatbot can successfully convince people to change their votes and could affect the outcome of future elections, according to a new study.
While some are writing wishlists for Santa Claus, a group of Newfoundland and Labrador youth are writing their wishlist for the provincial government.