Pasadena family resource centre reopens after controversial displacement
CBC
A family resource centre in Pasadena celebrated its official grand opening Wednesday evening, over half a year after it was controversially displaced from its previous location.
Since 2018, the Tree House Family Resource Centre, a non-profit group that offers programs and support to young families, was based in a Pasadena building called the Hub.
The western Newfoundland town bought the building last winter to create a community services facility, which would include a medical clinic.
Instead of sharing space at the Hub, which would be undergoing renovations for doctors' offices, Pasadena Mayor Darren Gardner said the town reduced the size of the public library located in the town hall to give floor space to the family resource centre.
While the move was initially controversial, as the town had to juggle the displacement of two community services, Myrna Moss, the executive director of the resource centre, says the new space is "perfect."
"We hope we are home, and we are so thankful and appreciative to the town for partnering with us and securing a wonderful space for us to offer programs," said Moss.
"This centre is homey, it's bright, it's new. We have no complaints whatsoever."
The Tree House Family Resource Centre, established in 1999, offers a variety of programs and services to families with young children up to the age of six, including a healthy baby club for "prenatal families."
It's the third time the Tree House, which offers programs every day of the week, has relocated to a new space.
Moss saysPasadena has a "wonderful" challenge — it is home to many young families.
The resource centre, which is headquartered in Deer Lake and has six sites from Pasadena to White Bay, served 193 families and 276 children in the year before the pandemic, she said.
"Over the years, the numbers that attend our centre have grown."
Gardner said it was important for the town to keep the service.
"The lifeblood of any town, any growing town, any sustainable town are young families," said Gardner. The service is a key asset to attract more families to the town, she said.
This story is a collaboration between the Investigative Journalism Foundation and CBC Saskatchewan.
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