The Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre is moving

A new interim home for the CACAC 

The Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre has a new place to call home. The CACAC is thrilled to announce they have found an interim space to operate before the permanent move to RDC campus.

The CACAC has seen rapid growth since opening in late 2017 – with case numbers continuing to increase instrumentally year after year, the need for support is greater than ever. With the increased volume of cases and clients comes the inevitable increase of required space – and thanks to some wonderful individuals, a new space, a larger space, has been found.

“We have been needing a new space for quite some time now. We have been seeing a high rise in our numbers over the past year, with a surge in demand of our support services like our Court Prep Program and Mental Health Therapy – but we are running at full capacity. This new location gives us the space to provide all of our services and gives us the opportunity to support even more children and families who need us.” – Mark Jones, CEO

The CACAC’s new office is in Red Deer’s Capstone District, located in the Westview Business Centre building. The space is over 12,500 sq, tripling the size of the original space, and includes 5 family waiting rooms, two interview rooms, two mental health therapy rooms, an advocate volunteer office, and a large educational space. The ability to have two interview rooms is vital for the CACAC, as the Centre has been seeing an upwards of 10 interviews a day. In the past year, the CACAC has also welcomed 2 more RCMP Forensic Interviewers, now operating with 3 in-Centre members. “As an integrated partner, the RCMP are excited for the CAC to open their new child friendly space in Red Deer. This new building is the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the CAC. The RCMP are continually encouraged by the bold steps the CAC has made to improve the lives of Central Alberta children and their families.” Sgt Ian Ihme Red Deer RCMP-GRC

The organization is still working on constructing the new building on RDC Campus and is hoping to be in by August 2022.

This move was made possible thanks to help and generosity of the Central Alberta community. The CACAC would like to extend a special thank you to John & Joan Donald, and Jack & Joan Donald of River Valley Properties for the creative lease agreement and for their individual contributions.

The team would also like to thank those who helped facilitate this exciting move: Brett Salomons of Salomons Commercial, Reid & Wright Advertising, Phil Stork Outsource Installation, Mark McCleod and Bill Robinson from Sorento Custom Homes and Winmar Restoration. Thanks to the work of these individuals and businesses, the space already feels like home – and it is a safe and welcoming place for a child to share their story.

Please visit centralalbertacac.ca to learn more about the community support services the CACAC offers. Collectively, we can end child abuse.

Understanding My Own Grief was Life changing for Me

A personal story:

“…I connected with the PCN program through my doctor’s recommendation. I have always been a thirsty learner of better ways to navigate through life. The Coaches of the program Journeying through Grief showed up every day with their humanness and wisdom.

I appreciated their loyalty to improve our wellness through learning to manage our grief. They were willing to be vulnerable in a way I have never seen in any kind of therapy or counselling. Their own histories with grief nurtured my trust and receptivity to the information.

They shared their personal experiences in dealing with life’s challenges. For me, I would describe my experience as emotional debridement. I am thankful for the contribution and support of everyone in the class. Several of us had mastered supporting others but needed to learn how to do this for ourselves.

Connection with empathy as in this group is nothing less than GOLDEN in creation of a better life of wellness in arguably a better world. Reflectively I now feel that my own grief was due initially to the loss of my dreams too quickly as important people did not believe in me. Not learning how to handle this made subsequent losses more difficult to manage.

I learned that dealing with grief is a journey and to never give up. If things get tough, have faith that things will get better soon…”

About Red Deer Primary Care Network (RDPCN):  We are a partnership between Family Doctors and Alberta Health Services. Health professionals such as psychologists, social workers, nurses and pharmacists work in clinics alongside family doctors. In addition, programs and groups are offered at the RDPCN central location. This improves access to care, health promotion, chronic disease management and coordination of care.  RDPCN is proud of the patient care offered, the effective programs it has designed and the work it does with partners in health care and the community.

Learn more about the Primary Care Network.

From Night to Day – how a visit with our clinic’s psychologist changed Steven’s life