[1]Trenton Military Family Resource Centre Logo. Picture by https://trentonmfrc.ca/
By Alana Pickrell [2] and Vanessa Stark [3]
BELLEVILLE – Belleville will be home to a new Military Family Resource Centre [4] that could open as early as December.
The location will be at 610 Dundas St. E. Belleville, which will make it accessible by bus for families that call the Belleville area their home.
Devon Taylor [5], communications and development coordinator from Trenton Military Family Resource Centre, said the new centre is a necessary addition to the city.
“(The expansion) was something that was identified through our board of directors. We have the resources right now. We’ve got great staff here. Our daycare is thriving. We knew there was a need that needed to be met in Belleville.”
Currently there are approximately 500 military families in Belleville that need support.
The renovation is expected to start mid-October, with the doors opening to the public by December or January.
The new centre will have 49 available licensed spaces for daycare, which will be open for both military families and the public. There will be 10 spaces available for infants, 15 spaces for children of toddler age and 24 spaces open for children of pre-school age.
“A need that we’re trying to meet is that military families have a very unique life style. We want to make sure that there is daycare available that is flexible enough to meet those needs,” said Taylor.
The new space will be shared equally between the daycare and the resource centre.
Belleville’s location will also offer the core programs that are being run at the Trenton location. These include welcoming transition support, deployment support and mental health services.
An important part of the Military Family Resource Centre is support for the entire family as a whole.
“Our goal was to be able to provide support for military families within a 20-minute driving distance. Having a site in Belleville is huge because people that are living in Picton, Stirling, or Foxboro can definitely access our services at the Belleville site,” said Taylor.
In May the Trenton Military Family Resource Centre held their 12th Annual Invisible Ribbon Gala [6] where they raised enough money to complete Phase 1 of the renovations.
In order to make the centre ready for children MFRC is reaching out to the community in a fundraising campaign. More information can be found on their Facebook page [7] or website.
A wall of recognition for sponsors around the community will be placed in the new resource centre.