PRC Media Release
PRC is grateful for the support from Ontario Trillium Foundation which has allowed us to expand our virtual services and coaching opportunities for family, staff and Board who were experiencing acute distress due to the hardship of a prolonged pandemic environment.
Deborah Lehmann, Executive Director
February 15, 2002
OTF HELPS PARENT RESOURCE CENTRE SUPPORT FAMILIES DURING COVID-19
Ottawa, ON: The COVID-19 pandemic has been an ongoing and extremely challenging situation for children and families. In February 2021, to help respond to this challenge, the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) awarded a $112,100 Resilient Communities Fund grant to the Parent Resource Centre (PRC). This support has allowed PRC to expand its virtual services and coaching opportunities for families, staff and Board members who were experiencing acute distress due to the hardship of a prolonged pandemic environment.
“Parents have been the absolute champions of creativity over the last two years, constantly innovating new ways to keep their kids entertained despite public health restrictions,” said Lucille Collard, Member of Provincial Parliament for Ottawa-Vanier. “I want to commend the Parent Resource Centre for making it a little easier for families in Ottawa-Vanier by providing engaging programing for our children thanks to the Resilient Communities Fund.”
Research has highlighted the needs of children and families during the pandemic. A 2020 survey saw parents express fear and stress related to their children returning to school, interacting with other kids, facing remote learning challenges and experiencing fear and concern about the next impending wave. This heightened anxiety was caused by loss of in-person support, balancing the risk of infection against the need for social and educational interactions, and in some cases, the inability to access regular childcare to keep employment. Single parent families faced more challenges than most.
To help meet these challenges, PRC engaged Jela Begonja Kovacevic of Fierce Courage Coaching to support its clients and stakeholders. “Families, staff and Board members at PRC benefitted from the coaching experience, which provided psychological safety, coping skills, and new perspectives, and in turn created the capacity to function differently and more effectively”.
“As a PRC Board member, full time employee and single dad in the environment of virtual schooling, I was anxious, stressed and struggling to fulfill my three responsibilities during COVID-19,” said Mirindi Chivaza-Ruhana, PRC Board member. “I had the opportunity to attend coaching sessions with Fierce Courage (Jela Begonja) where she guided me through a comprehensive process to identify my strengths and weaknesses in order to build my leadership skills and create a manageable daily task planner. Jela’s coaching approach and open mind made these sessions easy and fantastic. I am still referring to the materials/tools she provided me on leadership and planning.”
In addition to providing coaching and counselling for families, staff and Board members, this grant also supported salaries to meet increased service demand and covered enhanced cleaning services required for in-person service delivery. “The $112,100 in funding helped the organization to build on its capacity and realign its operations to meet the emerging needs of our community,” said Deborah Lehmann, Executive Director of the Parent Resource Centre. “With support from the OTF, PRC became a more resilient organization because we could better anticipate, prepare for, respond and adapt to change and sudden disruptions.”
The Parent Resource Centre (PRC) has been a continuous presence in the Ottawa Community for over 45 years – educating parents and supporting children. To find out more about our organization, available programming and social media, please visit our website at www.parentresource.ca.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations. Last year, nearly $112M was invested into 1,384 community projects and partnerships to build healthy and vibrant communities and strengthen the impact of Ontario’s non‐profit sector. In 2020/21, OTF supported Ontario’s economic recovery by helping non‐profit organizations rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID‐19. Visit otf.ca to learn more.
Media Contact:
Deborah Lehmann – Executive Director, The Parent Resource Centre
613-565-2467 | dlehmann@parentresource.ca