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Town moves ahead with FCSS, Parent Link relocation

The Town of St. Paul is moving forward with expanding its Parent Link location and FCSS department, following the purchase of the old JMD building for $645,951.
The building located directly west of the current Town of St. Paul office will be renovated to make space for the Town of St. Paul FCSS and Parent Link programs.
The building located directly west of the current Town of St. Paul office will be renovated to make space for the Town of St. Paul FCSS and Parent Link programs.

The Town of St. Paul is moving forward with expanding its Parent Link location and FCSS department, following the purchase of the old JMD building for $645,951.

A number of issues exist with the current location of the programs, which is in the basement of the administration building, including cramped quarters and inaccessibility, admits Mayor Glenn Andersen.

“The age demographics in St. Paul has changed the last little while . . . we have a lot of young families,” says Andersen, noting that as of the last available information from Statistics Canada, that average age in St. Paul was just 36 years.

Melissa McShannock, a parent to two children, has been coming to the Parent Link Centre for a couple of years, since she found out about it after moving to the community three years ago.

“We love it; we come usually once a week,” she said. However, she noted that she and her friends have always suggested “that more space would be great,” as the centre becomes very packed at times such as holidays like Christmas and Halloween, and on days where there is no school. Some of her friends have worried about the steepness of the stairs leading to the space in the basement. Carrying babies in car seats down the stairs is also a concern for some, she said, adding that car seats take up more room in the main area as well.

McShannock welcomed the announcement, saying, “I think it’s going to be great.”

The plan to expand the Town of St. Paul FCSS and Parent Link has been afoot for some time. In October of 2015, town council looked at a plan to build a 3,400 sq. ft. addition to the Town of St. Paul, into its parking lot, at a cost estimated between $510,000 to $595,000 to create more room for the programs. Council did not proceed with the plan, but did receive feedback from parents and other users that an increase in space was needed due to overcrowding.

While specifics have yet to be finalized for renovations in the recently purchased building, some internal walls will be removed, to make the space functional for Parent Link, FCSS and other community users, confirmed Lynn Smid, St. Paul FCSS Director.

Renovations to the building, located across the street from the town office, are estimated to cost $100,000, for a total estimated cost of $745,951.

According to information from the Town of St. Paul FCSS, participants in the Parent Link program has nearly doubled from last year to this year, from 486 visitors to 764 visitors in the same quarter.

Since the FCSS department also offers programs to seniors, the inaccessibility of the basement area was also an issue for people with limited mobility.

Other services that have seen an increase in use are: Meals on Wheels (which saw 2,728 meals served in 2017); volunteer income tax preparation; senior’s special needs assistance programs; and counseling support.

In addition to these issues, newcomers to St. Paul have noted that it’s difficult to find the FCSS department, according to the media release.

“Seniors, community members with mobility issues, and families with young children have consistently appealed for a location that provided more appropriate and accessible access to the programs and services FCSS and Parent Link provides,” says the media release.

The mayor says there was a lot of work that went into the decision to purchase the old JMD building, and the town will be moving ahead with doing some renovations to make the space work.

In the end, Andersen hopes that the programs will continue to grow, getting “bigger and better.”

Expanding the Parent Link and FCSS departments will allow families to “grow into the future,” says Andersen.

According to the media release, a grand opening for the new location is being planned for the winter of 2017.

At Monday’s regular Town of St. Paul council meeting, a motion to move forward with applying for a Standard Grant Application for Funding (SGAF), under the Community Accessibility Stream, was carried.

“Funds for this stream are granted to projects that remove accessibility barriers and increase accessibility and/or safety for people with disabilities in a community space,” reads the town’s agenda.

The grant would be used to increase the accessibility of the new Parent Link/FCSS location. The grant could fund up to $50,000 of the project.


Janice Huser

About the Author: Janice Huser

Janice Huser has been with the St. Paul Journal since 2006. She is a graduate of the SAIT print media journalism program, is originally from St. Paul and has a passion for photography.
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