Where Community Comes Alive

Description

This is our second entry for our community and it was done entirely by our local youth. We have some very talented young adults who wanted to help Oak Park Moms and Tots win the $25,000, so that we could continue to provide great programming in our community. At Moms and Tots we have been able to support many of our youth. They have volunteered their time to our organization and we have been able to give them job experience to help them in their educational and career goals and to help them gain self-esteem and confidence. We have been very privileged to be the recipient of the talents and skills of our local youth. This video was filmed and edited by Miguel Barbosa and the original music was provided by Frank Mallany. Oak Park Moms and Tots is a small grassroots community organization that is almost 10 years old and is a registered charity. It began when a group of 6 moms started meeting in each others homes because of isolation and the lack of community services. We have been in our welcoming, barrier free, neighbourhood centre for 3 years and last year we served 500 families. Our programming includes: circletime programs, parented pre-school, Spanish, German and, Japanese drop in's, after school tutoring, food bank, Child Development Resource Centre, health nurse visits, parenting workshops, Child Social Skills Program, dance classes, afternoon preschool program, lactation support, and parent support. The following groups also use our space: Prenatal classes, ABC Print Club, yoga, exercise, sign language, Halton Down Syndrome Assoc., Autism Ontario, and Epilepsy Halton Peel. We ensure that children have strong social and school readiness skills and that parents have the resources that they need to be the best they can be. We rely on the support of our local community for funding and our volunteers to keep us going. This has been a difficult year with many families loosing their jobs and some funders not having enough money to contribute this year. Winning this contest would allow us to ensure we continue to be open this year. www.oakparkmomsandtots.ca