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About Us

Rural Response for Healthy Children is a charitable organization serving Huron and Perth County families. Our work helps foster a healthy community of trusted adults where children and youth thrive. We offer workshops, programs, services and supports that address specific concerns affecting family well-being in our community.

 

Our team offers education, support groups, activities, and workshops for parents/caregivers who are: 

  • Experiencing life transitions (pregnancy, new parents, starting school)

  • Managing relationships between parent/child/school/community

  • Coping with vulnerable situations (addictions, disabilities, domestic violence, financial challenges, illness, single parenting)

  • Looking to enhance their positive parenting skills

 

Our team also provides education, support groups, and activities for children and youth with a focus on:

  • Personal safety at home, in the community, and online

  • Disability awareness

  • Social and emotional learning; including self-regulation and social skills

  • Peer support groups; including for grandparents raising their grandchildren, and families where one or more child has a disability or mental health diagnosis.

Learn more on our Programs or Services pages.

Vision

A responsive community that supports, nurtures & strengthens families and children.

Mission

Helping families and children to create an environment of well-being through community engagement and capacity building.

Values

Responsiveness

Responding to the needs of our clients and community

Making Connections

Networking to provide the best help for our clients

Capacity Building

Empowering others to achieve their full potential

Caring

Fostering a culture where people are heard and feel valued

Fairness

Working towards fairness in all our interactions

Accessibility

Overcoming barriers that stand in the way of assistance

A woman writing on the beach with a stick spelling out gratitude

Board of Directors

The governance Board of Directors is comprised of volunteers from the community. These volunteers are vital to the development and growth of the organization due to their work with funders, staff, partners, and participants.

Christina VanPoucke

Erin Roy

Karen Kan

Judy Lambers

Shannon Lewis-Beattie

Mark King

Wendy Hutton

Amanda Zehr

Jessica Van Raay

Jaleena Goldsworthy

Kerri Lyn Grainger

Staff
Members

We could not do what we do without our dedicated team of full-time staff.

Katrina Clarke Executive Director

Nicole Bedard Administration Coordinator

Alex Robinson Communications Specialist

Jill Robertson Parent Support Worker

Susan Cowman Parent Support Worker

Kristi Michel Child Support & Education Worker

Community Reports

We prepare project and community reports to support transparency and accountability to the community and funding organizations. These are our most recent reports, please feel free to reach out to us for older editions.

Funding

As a charitable organization, we deliver education and community well-being programs funded by government and foundations. Individual and local group donations leverage the work we do, and allow us to deliver additional initiatives.

Rural Response for Healthy Children is thankful for over thirty years of funding from Public Health Agency of Canada. Additional financial support for current programs is provided by organizations such as Employment Development Services Canada, Ontario Trillium Foundation, and the McCall MacBain Foundation. We are also grateful for donations from local groups and individuals that help our programs reach more families in our community.

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