‘Family Home Visitors’ wrap up workshop

Thanks to a “Family Home Visitor” workshop, Bonnie Johnson of Seine River First Nation now has the tools she needs to help families in that community give their young children the best start in life.
And she expects her newly-honed skills to come in handy when she opens a toy lending library there at the end of the month.
“I really gained a lot of knowledge and insight on how to relate to people [and] I have a lot more confidence,” Johnson said yesterday. “This training will help me deal with one-on-one [interactions] with families that come to the library.
“I also will know information on the outside resources [available] to them,” she noted.
Johnson was among 29 women from six area First Nations and their community partners who attended the two-week “Family Home Visitor” program that wrapped up last Friday at the Red Dog Inn.
It was an initiative of the Healthy Babies, Healthy Children program, and implemented through the Northwestern Health Unit here. It also was the fourth of its kind held in the area since 1998–but the first geared primarily at First Nations communities.
Other local participants in the program included Val Smith, Yvonne Smith, Rachael Smith, Tania Smith, Andrea Debungie, Maria Bombay, Elizabeth Bombay, Verna Debungie, Sandra Krikke, Elaine Jourdain, Cheri Woosley, and Roberta Bruyere.
Rounding out the participants were Karen Kakepetum, Dorothy Kakepetum, Ida Fiddler, Sandra Jamison, Rosilene Jamison, Brenda Beardy, Vanessa Kelly, Susie Thompson, Cathy Cameron, Sheila Cameron, Debbie Green, Brenda McLeod, Clare Gray, Cindy DeLaurier, Cori Matichuk, and Gail Collins.
Participants were trained to be peer advocates for families of young children–prenatal to age six years–who are at risk of delayed development, and whose parents are looking for extra support on healthy child growth and care techniques.
As Family Home Visitors, they can provide parents with information on pregnancy, proper child and family nutrition, child care options, and links to other community services.
“[Family Home Visitors] also are like service co-ordinators, linking families to appropriate community partners,” Cheryl Wilson, Healthy Babies, Healthy Children co-ordinator and workshop leader, said yesterday.
“They are part of a universal support network,” she noted.
Maria Bombay,19, of Rainy River First Nation, couldn’t say enough about the program. She said it taught her more than one lesson about parenting.
“It was very informative and an excellent experience for somebody like myself,” she reasoned. “I don’t have kids so just for my own further knowledge, it was excellent.
“I’ve also been able to learn to deal with people,” she added.
“[The program] was very successful and it flowed very well,” echoed Phyllis Anderson, health promotion team leader with the health unit and program manager for Healthy Babies, Healthy Children.
In related news, five area First Nations communities, including Seine River, Rainy River, and Couchiching, plan to follow in the footsteps of Naicatchewenin First Nation, which opened a toy lending library earlier this year.
The libraries are being funded through the Healthy Babies, Healthy Children program.