Family Service Centre

Parents Engaged in Education are thrilled to announce the opening of the Family Service Centre featuring Canada’s First Education Bank! The Family Service Centre is located at 857 Milner Ave. Unit 104, in Scarborough, Ontario.

COVID-19 Update

In response to the new Provincial guidelines, the Education Bank will be closed, however we have shifted to a curb side pickup model which will allow families to select materials for pickup at the Family Service Centre.

For more information on Canada’s First Education Bank we encourage you to visit www.educationbank.ca

The Centre

The Family Service Center featuring Canada’s first Education Bank supports low-income families with learning resources/materials and a technology hub.

The Family Service Centre
The Centre will provide parents, children and teens a diverse, inclusive and safe place to engage with little learners. It will be an inspiring space for artists to create and for Indigenous and Black families to celebrate their heritage. Creativity will come alive for students who will have access state-of-the-art technology. This space will also offer virtual training sessions. It is an excellent space for everyone to come together and have some fun learning activities.

The Technology Hub
This space will offer students access to a safe place to utilize computers, printers and technology they may not easily have access to, to do their schoolwork.

For families this space could be used to offer presentations on such things as mental health strategies, self-reliance, learning strategies etc. Parents can learn how to support their child with regards to current needs through such experiences.

The Education Bank – www.educationbank.ca
The Education Bank will provide the opportunity to begin the journey to reverse generational poverty. It will require children/youth to work for the items they need from the centre.* Students in secondary school will be encouraged to volunteer their time and earn community hours as a trade-off for access to the services and materials they need.* Similarly, younger learners may be asked to do simple tasks such as making an art piece for the art wall, stapling papers or writing a story.* The goal is to demonstrate that when you work, you have the power to decide what you want or need instead of that being determined by someone else.

The most impacted parties will be the families and children/youth.  By giving them an opportunity to work for what they need, they will gain a sense of fulfillment. Walking away with a full backpack for their children, or a game etc. they know they have worked for is rewarding and impactful because they are not just simply being given a handout.

OUR GOAL IS NOT TO HAND OUT BECAUSE FAMILIES ARE DOWN AND OUT, IT IS TO RAISE CHILDREN UP SO THEY CAN REACH THEIR POTENTIAL!!

We expect this centre will be in a position to support 4000 children/youth each year. Hopefully, through the hard work of volunteers, generous donations and sponsorship, this number will grow and more families can benefit from these services.

*Due to COVID-19 restrictions this part of the program is deferred until restrictions are lifted.

During the COVID-19 crisis, we have supported shelters, Children’s Aid, community service providers, the food bank system and various charitable organizations with over 2000 Learn at Home kits for children/youth.

We realized that there is no similar organization that responds to mental health by providing tangible items that children/youth can earn and take home. In addition, we recognized that:

1. Currently, there is no organized process for donations. Every shelter and service provider are responsible for getting donations to their residents/families.
2. There is no place where a family in need can go to access and take what they need to support learning. Shelters and other service providers rarely receive these items as donations.
3. Education is often over-looked when considering families/youth in need. Simply having the proper tools to be successful in school is vitally important and affects a child’s mental health.
4. Our strength relies on our ability to build effective partnerships that will create long-term sponsorships.

In summary, the goal of our Family Service Centre/Education Bank is to provide a one-stop-shop. A place where shelters and other service providers, as well as families and their children/youth, could go to find learning resources, materials and access to other services.