2020 Emergency Community Support Fund Round 2 Grant recipient.
Parenting is tough. When life gives us extra challenges, it can feel overwhelming.
For over twenty years, Dufferin Parent Support Network (DPSN) has provided local families with free parenting resources and workshops on a variety of topics, including anger and stress management, positive discipline, effective communication, diffusing challenging behaviour, managing anxiety, and more. These workshops improve parent/child relationships, increase parenting knowledge and understanding, and help families better cope with life’s challenges.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, parents have experienced heightened challenges, including isolation, online school, and concerns about physical and mental health. Many are seeking new skills and resources to help them navigate today’s extraordinary pressures.
In response to this increased need for support for parents, last spring, DPSN adapted our workshops to an online format. Parents appreciated the opportunity to develop their parenting knowledge and tools and get answers to their questions and concerns. The connection with other parents, who were also experiencing some of the same stresses, made them feel less alone.
The online format also increased access and options for parents who previously struggled to attend in-person workshops, whether due to transportation issues, a lack of childcare, or mental health concerns. In addition, it means that DPSN will be able to provide workshops over the winter months, without worries about parents travelling in inclement weather.
Through a generous grant from the Emergency Community Support Fund, DPSN can continue to be there to support parents through the winter months. DPSN will provide a series of online workshops in response to the increased stress and challenges that parents are facing this winter.
When parents are supported, families thrive. When families thrive, children flourish.
Website https://www.dpsn.ca/
