Eckville’s Centre for Positive Relationships has officially opened.
After consultations and evaluations, the centre opened on Nov. 16 with a ribbon cutting.
Present for the ribbon cutting was Mayor Helen Posti, Coun. Karin Engen, and members of the Library Board.
“Eckville Neighborhood Place and Eckville FCSS are very appreciative of the library for housing this collection of resources,” said Engen in an email following the event.
The centre is housed in the Eckville Public Library where it can be easily accessed by anyone. Each community with a Centre for Positive Change can pick the location where they feel it will best serve the area. In other communities centres have been established in churches, Family and Community Support Services centres, in a Neighbourhood Place and in Village and Alberta Community Against Abuse Offices.
The Centre for Positive Relationships is part of the work done by the Central Alberta Regional Vision for Non-Violence Coalition. The 16 communities that are a part of the coalition will each have their own centre open somewhere in town where it can be accessed by any who need it.
Sylvan Lake’s centre was the first to open, with the other communities following throughout the fall.
The purpose of the centre is to ensure proper and consistent training of staff, as well as having the same resources available in each community. This means a person can access the same information, resources and books in any of the 16 communities that are a part of the coalition.
“The resources are consistent throughout all of the communities involved with the coalition,” Engen said.
Each centre will have a “community resource library” where materials can be checked out free of charge.
The centre provides information as well as referral support to those in the community who may be affected by family violence, elder abuse, or bullying.
These centres use education through staff training, providing public resources, and other initiatives as a means of violence prevention. The centre supports violence prevention initiatives such as Pink Shirt Day, Walk the Talk, Red Rose, and Red Silhouette Campaigns.
“We would encourage members of our community to stop in and view the resources and to renew their library memberships while they are there,” said Engen.
megan.roth@eckvilleecho.com
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