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Community Can Play a Big Role in Helping Children and Youth Thrive
Everything counts. That was the key message at the official launch of
the Our Kids Network’s 2008 A Vision for Children in Halton
Report Card which took place in Oakville on Thursday, February 12,
2009. Various community agencies, volunteers and parents were on
hand for the official release of the 2008 Report Card which provides
detailed information about the issues facing children and youth in
Halton. It is the mission of the Our Kids Network that all
children thrive and the results of the report card indicate that there
is work that still needs to be done at a community level to support
children, youth and their families.
“The most significant findings relate to the mental health of our
children and youth,” said Nancy MacGillivray, Executive Director
of the Halton Children’s Aid Society and a partner on the Our
Kids Network. “One in six students in Halton is experiencing
mental health issues. Parents and community agencies need to be
aware of these findings and we need to work together to help our
children and youth face these challenges.”
The 2008 A Vision for Children in Halton Report Card measures the
progress of children and families in Halton using data collected from
local, provincial and national sources. The Our Kids Network has
identified seven key results that help measure the progress of child
and youth development in Halton. Collectively we want children who are
healthy, children who are learning, children who are positively
connected, children who are safe, families that are strong and stable,
schools that are connected to the community, and neighbourhoods where
we can live, work and play.
The report findings reveal that parent-child relationships, parental
monitoring, and connection to peers and school play an important role
in healthy development and protecting against risky behaviours and
promoting positive and healthy choices. The findings suggest that the
work of parents, teachers, community agencies and volunteers at a
community level is having a positive impact on the healthy development
of children and youth in Halton.
The Our Kids Network strongly believes that individuals or groups
working towards a common goal can make a real difference. Part of the
official ceremony during the release of the 2008 Report Card included
the recognition of “Community Heroes” in Halton who have
made significant contributions to the quality of life for children and
youth in their community through their work with the Our Kids Network
Neighbourhood Hubs.
“Our Kids Network Community
Heroes are extraordinary individuals whose passion, perseverance and
purpose have positively contributed to the work being done in the
Neighbourhood Hubs,” said Nancy MacGillivray, Executive Director
of the Halton Children’s Aid Society and a partner on the Our
Kids Network.
The following individuals were presented with the Our Kids Network “Community Heroes Award”:
• Acton Neighbourhood Hub – Bekky Gibson
and Hayley Gendron – two young women who stand out from the
ordinary by dedicating their time to improve opportunities, programming
and well being for youth in Acton.
• Aldershot Neighbourhood Hub – Karen
Phelps, an advocate for food security and volunteer with the Aldershot
Hub Fresh Food Box Program.
• Aldershot Neighbourhood Hub – Linda
Cupido, a community advocate who fundraises for the Aldershot Hub to
secure financial support for programs offered at the Hub.
• Milton Neighbourhood Hub – Misty Hobbs,
a volunteer who organizes community meetings and focus group sessions
at the Hub to help individuals or families in Milton who need
assistance.
• Oakville Neighbourhood Hub – Mojgan
Sagharichi, an advocate for food security and site coordinator for the
Oakville Fresh Food Box Program.
The Our Kids Network is a community network of partners including
Halton Region, Halton Regional Police Services, Halton District School
Board, Halton Catholic District School Board, Halton Children’s
Aid Society, ROCK, and Transitions for Youth who joined together to
promote the healthy development, security and safety of all children,
youth and families in Halton. The vision of the network is that
“all children thrive!” Partners in the Our Kids Network
work towards this vision by providing service integration through
neighbourhood hubs and by committing to collecting local data on an
ongoing basis to help identify where needs exist with respect to the
health of children and youth in Halton. To learn more about the Our
Kids Network visit www.ourkidsnetwork.ca
Halton’s Our Kids Network Wins International
Community Innovation Award
The Halton Our Kids Network was recently awarded first prize at the
Community Indicators Innovation Awards that took place in Washington,
D.C. this past June. The award was presented by the Community
Indicators Consortium (CIC), an organization that is learning network
and community of practice for people engaged or interested in the field
of community indicators and their application. The Our Kids Network is
the first community group from Canada and outside of the United States
to receive this award.
“The Our Kids Network is honoured to be recognized by the
Community Indicators Consortium for the work our network members do to
address community needs and improve outcomes for child development in
Halton,” said Adelina Urbanski, Commissioner of Social and
Community Services at Halton Region and a member of the Our Kids
Network. “This award confirms that we are on the right track in
terms of using best practices to meet the needs of children and
families in Halton.”
The purpose of the Community Indicators Innovation Awards is to
celebrate the successes of outstanding indicator projects and the
people who create and manage them. The awards were first established by
the Community Indicators Consortium in 2005 to identify indicator
projects that best demonstrated positive change in their communities
and the power of indicators to drive that change. The consortium
is organized around the belief that information sharing across areas of
interest is a key element in successful work to benefit people and
their concerns about their communities.
The Our Kids Network represents
Halton's commitment to the healthy development and well being of all
children in our community from prenatal to adolescence. The Network is
committed to their vision that “All Children Thrive”!
For more information about the Our Kids
Network, please contact Suzanne Mulligan, Program Manager, Our Kids
Network at 905-333-4226. Visit our website at www.ourkidsnetwork.ca
For more information, contact: Dr. Shelley Lothian, Sr. Research
Advisor, Halton Region, Children’s Services, 905-825-6000 x 2578
or shelley.lothian@halton.ca
Halton Food for Thought presents Community Award to Our Kids Network at AGM held October 29, 2008
At Halton Food for Thought’s Annual General Meeting held October
29, 2008, Executive Directory Gayle Cruikshank had these kind words to
say:
This award is given to recognize an organization’s sense of
community and their support of HFFT - Our Kids Network certainly fits
that bill! Not only have they donated the space for student
nutrition program food preparation, they have gone even further in
their support of Halton Food for Thought. Last year, Our Kids
Network sponsored healthy snacks/breakfasts for all students at schools
within their respective catchment areas and they have generously agreed
to do the same this year!
With four ‘Community Hubs’ strategically located at Halton
schools: Holy Rosary School (Burlington), River Oaks at
Munn’s School (Oakville), Our Lady of Victory School (Milton),
and the newest one at McKenzie-Smith Bennett School (Acton), they are
able to provide a local, neighbourhood-based resource, which is a means
for families, schools and the community to work together to support
children, youth and their parents.
Our Kids Network represents Halton’s commitment to the healthy
development and well-being of all children in our community.
Clearly, Our Kids Network and Halton Food For Thought are working
toward the same common goal – it’s a natural
partnership. We can’t thank Our Kids Network enough for
what they do for our student nutrition programs. Your
contributions to our success are substantial. Thank you
and……congratulations Our Kids Network!
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