The provincial and federal governments announced funding for the creation of three new Early Years Family Resource Centres in Saskatchewan, and one of those facilities will be located in Weyburn. The centre will be a joint initiative between the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division and The Family Place. 

This will see an expansion of what is offered from The Family Place, according to executive director Dawn Gutzke. 

“The growth will offer the opportunity for more training, building networks, offering more supports to families to help raise healthy children and to help build our community stronger,” Gutzke told Discover Weyburn after the announcement Thursday morning. 

Gutzke pointed out that the timing of the announcement couldn’t be more perfect for The Family Place, as they are currently in the process of getting their new facility up and running. 

“Now, we can, with this partnership, we can actually adapt and design it, and grow together with Holy Family into this partnership and design it to what we need.” 

The partnership between the school division and The Family Place came about after Weyburn had initially been selected to be a site for an Early Years Family Resource Centre by the Ministry of Education. 

“The Ministry reached out to Holy Family to become partners with The Family Place in this,” explained Terry Jordens, the superintendent of student services and assessment with Holy Family.  

Jordens added that the goals of the school division and The Family Place are closely aligned, which makes the partnership mutually beneficial. 

While this will be a partnership, the staffing of the centre will be from The Family Place. However, this will allow for some access to additional services for The Family Place, including professional services.  

“School divisions have speech and language pathologists and occupational therapists, so we’re able to then consult with that sort of expertise and support The Family Place in that way,” Jordens added. 

The centre will be housed out of the current Family Place facility on 4th Street for the time being and will move with The Family Place when they have completed the renovations at their new facility. That is expected to happen at some point in the new year.  

The announcement from the provincial government is providing $215,000 to each of the communities selected, including Weyburn, to cover start-up funding for the Early Years Family Resource Centre. The other communities selected were Swift Current and Lloydminster.  

There are currently 12 Early Years Family Resource Centres in Saskatchewan. 

In a release making the announcement, the Minister of Education, and Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA, Dustin Duncan said the centres, which are for families with young children ages five and under, help with developmental needs and school readiness. 

“These centres have attracted thousands of families from across the province and the government remains committed to expanding this important resource,” Duncan added.