Alone. Feeling alone. Parenting alone. Single parenting is not the same though. Alone takes on a very different meaning. You can be lonely in a room full of people or lonely sitting on the couch in an empty room. You can only be truly, physically alone in one of those situations. I have to admit I have definitely been lonely even with a full-time job and two small children who counted on me for everything. Three full-time jobs: two of those walked and...
So I sit here and the title of this blog post would be “Show Me The Money, Honey”. But I am conflicted as I write this because I want to write from a place that represents living in poverty and trying to raise a child. But I also have this other compelling side to tell you about how ‘poor’ this social services piece is in this country. How the social services in the community that support up to 1 in 3 people are doing that with no money. So...
Suicides are increasing at an alarming rate among Canadian girls, with hanging, strangulation and other forms of suffocation now the predominant methods used by children and adolescents — regardless of sex — to kill themselves. It’s a disturbing phenomenon that researchers speculate may be linked to the increasing popularity of the “choking game”, raising the possibility that unintentional strangulation deaths from the...
So today is the first day of trying to keep up with all my brilliant ideas and to start to blog about my experiences as a young parent outreach worker. I know I have it in me; the ideas are always filling my head. Trying to source material for the parents I work with and to find engaging topics about stuff that really matters to them and their reality. Also for me. Finding supportive, first hand accounts of really being in the trenches and working with...
Teenage pregnancy is associated with health challenges and health risk behaviours. However, promoting protective factors in the lives of young people who are involved in a pregnancy may help foster healthy development. This is the conclusion from the recently released fact sheet from the McCreary Center Society about youth and pregnancy involvement. The fact sheet used data from over 29,000 youth who completed the 2008 BC Adolescent Health Survey and...
According to new research released from UBC, babies born to depressed mothers acquire language skills at a slightly different rate than do babies of non-depressed women. Not only that, but the children of women treating their depression with serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SRIs (a common antidepressant) also show unique differences in language acquisition. What does this mean for parents, and for kids? The researchers caution against reading too much...
Since the introduction of Red Bull in the U.S. in 1997, the market for high-caffeine energy drinks has grown exponentially. And it didn’t take long for young co-eds to concoct alcoholic, high-energy mixtures. From “Jager Bombs” (Jagermeister and Red Bull) to “Red Bull and Vodka,” these drinks have become favourites on the bar scene. Now, in Elsevier’s Addictive Behaviors, researchers explore the associations between energy drink...
Once thought of as something only for bikers, rebellious teenagers or servicemen, tattoos have become quite fashionable and more accepted in all ages and sexes. Men, women, moms, dads, teens and grandmas can all be found sporting butterflies, barbed wire bracelets, inspirational sayings, their children’s names and other artsy designs from their ankles to their necks – and anywhere in between! But what about pregnant women? If you’ve...
Life is not measured by the number of breaths
we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Young Parent Outreach is a dynamic resource program providing services and support to young pregnant women, young moms and dads, and their children in the Greater Victoria area.
These services - provided by The Cridge Centre for the Family – are designed to give young pregnant women and young moms and dads the help and support network they need to have healthy babies and to be effective, successful parents.
Learn MoreThe Cridge Centre for the family is a place where people can find hope and direction when they are the most vulnerable and in need . . . a community of caring individuals who believe there’s more to social services than providing programs . . . because love is the bottom line.
You’ll find us in a number of locations in Greater Victoria, and our services include child care for children from all walks of life, supportive housing for families in economic or relationship crisis, services for women and children who have been impacted by relationship violence, respite care services for children with disabilities along with respitality support for their parents, a residence and other services for survivors of Brain Injury, as well as our Seniors’ Assisted Living Housing.
Learn MoreFunds for this program are provided by the Ministry of Children and Family Development. The Cridge Young Parent Outreach Program also gratefully acknowledge the support of the United Way of Greater Victoria and private donors.
