Building community connections is an important goal for Sandra-Lynn Shortall.
The Properties Family Hub Society, the brainchild of Shortall, is a program aimed at bringing together families and seniors in the British Properties.
"It's an opportunity for people in the Properties to gather in this community space, which we are embedding (with) a variety of programs that are intergenerational in nature," says Shortall, district principal of early learning for the West Vancouver School District.
The hub offers programs ranging from adult English language classes, fitness classes and a women's support group, to kids yoga, youth group and a preschool, all of which Shortall says they aim to launch by the end of September.
"There's essentially something for everyone," she says. "Whether they're in the toddler years, preschool years, school age years, adult years or the senior stage of life."
After a decade of ongoing research and data collection, Shortall says they learned there were opportunities to build a "connectedness," particularly for families with young children and seniors.
"We've been learning that there are pockets within our community of neighbourhoods and families that simply don't have easy access to opportunities to really fuel their family's learning," says Shortall. "We've got a lot of people living, for example, in the Properties who geographically are not necessarily connected due to the layout."
Other than the three schools located in the Properties there is no community space, she says.
"There's no space for families or people to connect at all, they have to travel across the highway, come down to the community centre or the library, or other spaces on the North Shore," says Shortall. "We've been tracking demographics so we know that people from the Properties are going all over the place and having to drive from A to B to C."
Shortall says they felt strongly that they needed to create a space for families, adults and children to gather within their own community.
"So this is our first attempt at that."
The hub's located in a portable on Chartwell elementary's grounds that, Shortall says, was formerly rented out as a private preschool.
"Our school board of trustees graciously has given us this space," she says. "They've given us this portable with utilities included, rent included, the whole works for us to build this for the community and to serve the children and families."
The programs run from around 9 a.m. to about 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and are all low cost or free.
"We've got a high standard for sure in terms of what's going to be offered and who's going to be instructing and teaching," says Shortall. "So I feel very confident saying that this is going to be a high quality society and family hub that when people do come to programs, they'll walk away feeling satisfied and excited."
PFHS is unique in nature, she says, because of the shared partnership they have created between seven different agencies, which started with the Child and Family Hub established at the West Vancouver Community Centre. The partnering agencies include Hollyburn Family Services, the West Vancouver Community Centre and the District of West Vancouver, as well as the West Vancouver Memorial Library, Vancouver Coastal Health, North Shore Community Resources and North Shore Neighbourhood House.
"We brought all of these community partners together and we've created the space where we're fueling programming and energy in and drawing from all of our respective clientele," she says. "So everything that's happening in this hub is generated by all of these partners."
PFHS also has a partnership with the North Shore Multicultural Society.
"We've got a really beautiful multicultural mix that's happening in the community," says Shortall. "North Shore Multicultural Society particularly is a key one because we need to reach out to these families as they acculturate to the community."
The multicultural society's services and goals in this project are really important as well, says Shortall, as they provide translation and cultural supports.
"That's another intricate part of this that I think makes it a bit different than anything that we've done in West Vancouver," she says.
Deanna Hilder, an early learning facilitator at Eagle Harbour StrongStart Centre, will be teaching at the PFHS preschool. She says the preschool, which will operate three afternoons a week, is one of several programs that are trying to create a place for families to connect and the preschool "just seems like an obvious part of that."
"(It's) for families to be able to connect through a preschool," says Hilder.
"And an offering for children so they can participate in an early learning program that's in their community, in the local school providing sort of a natural transition into kindergarten and the early years of elementary school."
It's equally important for children as well as for families to develop a connectedness, says Hilder, within the community, meeting new people and being able to actively participate.
Shortall says it will be interesting in a year's time to reflect back on what programs worked and what didn't.
"Our vision is certainly not one year sink or swim, we're looking long term and knowing that it takes a few years for many societies to kind of really grow and flourish," she says. "But we're very hopeful that this is going to take off quickly because it's one of a kind and it's unique to that particular neighbourhood."
The hub is also open to residents across the North Shore. Other programs within West Vancouver, says Shortall, including the popular Hollyburn StrongStart Centre, have had to turn families away due to lack of space.
"That certainly has been one that's been sitting on my soul a lot is the fact that we have to turn families away from programs because we don't have enough, and that speaks volumes to what we need to do as community service providers and as educators," she says. "If we know there's a need out there then we have to be responsive, so we're hoping that this will be responsive to some of that need and that we'll have more offerings for families within our community by having this Properties Family Hub in operation."
Shortall is excited about the hub and is hoping people take part in the programs.
"Our theme for the Properties Family Hub is 'connect, care, love where you live' and that is the essence of where we want to go with this and how we want to grow it," she says.
For more information on Properties Family Hub Society, visit sd45.bc.ca/pfhs/index.htm.
