The Family Nurturing Centre
Celebrating Community, Celebrating Life.
The Family Nurturing Centre's mission is to support families through the provision of resources, services and education to lay the foundations of mental health and well being in the family.
Through revitalizing community and connecting families that align themselves with the spirit of nurturing, empathy and cooperation, children flourish and the whole society benefits.
The FNC co-directed by Sam and Sydel Weinstein was established in Perth, Western Australia in 1989 and incorporated as a benevolent society in 1995.
Thousands of families have been through its doors.
The centre’s three areas of focus are:
1. Support new families and facilitate ‘contemporary extended family networks’ through its centre activities. These include:
· pregnancy yoga and support classes
· parent and baby/toddler support groups
· parenting and childbirth education
· clothing exchange program
· lactation support and counselling
· FNC Parents online Discussion group
· Library
· Centre activities and community events (including World Breastfeeding Week August 1-7th )
2. The centre has formalized its work in mental health and prevention of violence in the family and home and now offers the
FNC Mental Health and Well Being Program’ this includes:
· Mental Health First Aid Training for Adults and Youth.
· Mindfulness and Yoga training for prevention of anxiety and depression and to facilitate well being in the family.
· In development educational programmes that cover the foundations of well being and mental health in the individual and family, including attachment and bonding, communication skills, and the fostering of empathy, connection and co-operation.
· The program has its own website to be uploaded early July.
3. Also in development:
· WebPages to facilitate complementary online communities
· Information and resource database to support FNC Mission and Vision fed by the FNC ‘Knowledge Bank’: monthly electronic updates sent to subscribers.
· Story bank and FNC ‘Road map’: developed from stories and shared experiences to give parents an idea of the journey ahead.
Old African Proverb:
"It takes a village to raise a child"
www.makingsenseofmentalhealth.org
