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WJS Canada Open House
WJS Canada Open House
Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent
WJS Canada in Vegreville presented an Open House on September 22 at their new location at Vinet’s Village Mall. This event was offered so people could tour their new building, met the staff and obtain information about the new services and programs they offer.
Program Director for WJS Vegreville Brenda Slopianka explained that this office has been opened since June 27, 2023 and that they amalgamative the Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) side and the Child Services into this one building. “We focus on giving services to PDD. We support adults in the community, as well as, in residential homes. We also have our Child Services side where they support children in town.”
Aaron Hachkowski, Program Director for Family and Community Services for WJS said they have two programs. “One is called the Family Resource Network and that one works with children and families who aren’t involved in Children Services. This could be anybody that lives in Vegreville and area. We have two staff members for this; one works with children six years of age and under. They help with parents and kids who are struggling with managing their kids’ behaviours and then we have one staff member who works with kids from six and up for teens’ and parents’ conflicts. That is free to anybody as it is funded by Alberta Health Services.
Our second program is providing support for Child and Family Services for kids that are apprehended. So, we might be doing things like supervising visits. Kids might
be placed in foster care and they are looking at returning the kids back to their families. We will supervisor and monitor those interactions to make sure the parents are feeding their kids and that type of stuff. We also drive clients to appointments. Youth might have a psychologist appointment in the city so our staff will pick them up and drive them there. It is not just taxi service as they will debrief the kids after their appointment.
So, we have that program in Vegreville as well and both of them are funded through Child and Family Services by the Province of Alberta.”
At this event, Doreen Gullion, Indigenous Cultural Advisor for WJS said a prayer in Cree that people all work together to keep us well and to keep their vision.
It was noted at the event, that WJS stands for the Founder of this organization, William James Stelmasch.
