Last Wednesday (August 6), the Stoney Nakoda First Nation officially celebrated the opening of their new Parent Link Centre. 

Many dignitaries attended the morning event which included a pipe ceremony, dancing, drumming, speeches, lunch, and activities for families to enjoy. Honourable Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Children's Services for the Alberta Government was among those that attended and was thrilled to take part in the celebration. Knowing that keeping families connected today makes for a stronger community tomorrow, Schulz was happy to see the Centre open. "We are here for the opening of the Parent Link Centre which is part of prevention and early intervention and was part of the panel work done by the former government. MLAs on both sides of the House went out into the province, across the province, into communities working with people with lived experience, First Nations partners, as well as researchers, to determine how we could do better for vulnerable children across the province. One of those recommendations was to keep kids connected with their family, culture, and community and surely that has shown better outcomes for our vulnerable children who need it."

Even though the work to bring a Parent Link Cente to the Stoney Nakoda First Nation started back in 2017, Schulz is proud the government found the community worthy of funding the centre making it the second only Parent Link to call reserve land home. "Stoney Nakoda First Nation applied for a grant for a Parent Link Centre to provide services to their community. I think this is an exceptional day as Parent Link Centres provide incredible services to families; most importantly, it is a safe space where parents can come to access resources, tools, feel confident in their parenting and then be able to provide nurturing caring homes for their children. So the exciting thing about this Parent Link Centre is it is run by the community for the community, and only, the second Parent Link Centre in our province located on a First Nation."

Having a Parent Link Centre open on First Nation land is not only important for the family unit but one that can bring an entire community together, states Schulz. "I think this is incredibly important because it allows parents and families to access services that are respectful of their beautiful culture and traditions, as well as provide opportunities to access Elders and traditional practices and teachings which I think is very important when it comes to building stronger communities." 

The first and only other Parent Link Centre on First Nation land is located on the Siksika Nation, and Minister Schulz shares the opening of the centre reaffirms the UCP's commitment to continue building strong positive relations with our province's First Nation/ Metis leaders and partners.

Parent Link Centres provide lots of great programs and services for the community at large; including information regarding early childhood development, development and care, educational programs for parents, family support, developmental screening, cultural celebrations, and referrals.

Stoney Nakoda Parent Link Centre is located at the Family Resource Centre (Wesley Elder's Lodge). For information on programming email parentlink@stoneyhealth.com