If it truly takes a village to raise a child, then a newly transformed space specializing in perinatal practices is poised to become be a big help to expectant or new parents on the North Shore.
The Village Workshops and Wellness, envisioned as a hub for several different services and supports during the childbearing year, is now up and running in Edgemont Village, with practitioners in birth planning, prenatal education, hypnotherapy and more using the facility to host classes and clinics.
“It’s kind of one-stop shopping and the idea of a team,” explained founder Jill Colpitts, a doula and first-aid trainer.
“We’re practitioners that are mainly from the North Shore, so it’s really like a community venture to try and bring a whole bunch of services under one roof, cross-promote for each other and lift each other up.”
Colpitts said she’s had the vision for The Village for “several years,” but the idea was only recently able to become a reality. She and her husband also own a company called Canadian Birth Products, but had sold an associated online midwifery store and were left with an empty office space.
“I’ve been working in the perinatal field for about 10 years and just really feel like the North Shore needs a more concentrated effort in that respect,” Colpitts said. Herself a mother of two, Colpitts began reaching out to other local practitioners to see if they’d like to run recurring or one-off workshops and classes, and received an encouraging response.
“People wanted to come together and share their craft,” she said.
The Village lists nine practitioners on its website as part of the facility’s team, including acupuncturists, yoga instructors, and others offering holistic-centred supports.
The facility was once a residence and although it has since been renovated and rezoned as a commercial space, it still looks like an apartment, complete with a kitchen and living room. That setup is ideal for the services it now houses as The Village, and one that Colpitts said brings a “real community feel.”
“It’s a very versatile space,” she said. “It can be a wide-open, empty room for yoga, or we can lay down a rug, throw down some BackJack chairs and have some tea on the floor.”
Programming at The Village kicked off in earnest on Monday and the facility’s calendar is quickly filling up with various workshops and services. Colpitts said she’s hoping to have a grand opening event later in the month.
Visit villagefornewfamilies.ca to see a full schedule of available services, a listing of all of the facility’s practitioners and to register for classes and programs.
