Healthy Families
Healthy Families is a free and voluntary, home-based family support and coaching program that supports parents and caregivers, and helps them create stable, nurturing environments for their children. Parents and caregivers are supported to build on a foundation of strong family functioning when facing challenges. Service is centered around building on a family’s strengths.
Home Visitation
When a family is under other stressors in their lives the challenges of parenting can seem insurmountable. Home Visitation Practitioners offer hope to families experiencing obstacles to parenting.
Weekly home visits occur in the family’s home and are scheduled to meet their needs. The Home Visitation Practitioners support parents with setting and achieving personal goals.
Referrals
Referrals may be made by the family themselves, through another community service provider, or through one of three Family Resource Network Hubs (see links below). Healthy Families services are offered in three regions serving multiple communities.
- Drumheller, Three Hills, Hanna and surrounding communities within Kneehill County and Starland County (Central FRN 07).
- Chestermere, Strathmore and surrounding communities in East Rocky View County and Wheatland County (Calgary FRN11).
- Didsbury, Carstairs, Olds, Cremona, Sundre, and Mountain View County (Central FRN 12).
If your community is not listed, please give us a call at 1-866-566-4122 (toll free) to inquire.
Family Resource Network (FRN)
Family Resource Networks provide help for Alberta families to become resilient, strong, and healthy through a collaborative system designed to provide access to the right support at the right time, close to home. The Family Resource Network operates using a Hub‑and‑Spoke model, which supports coordinated access, navigation, and connection to services across the province. This approach allows families to enter the network through a single point while promoting seamless referrals and strong collaboration among service providers.
Agencies within an FRN deliver services and programming to support children, and youth aged 0 to 24 years and their families. Healthy Families is a Home Visitation spoke service within three provincial Family Resource Network serving South Central Alberta.
As a Spoke within the network, Healthy Families delivers specialized home visitation supports that complement and strengthen the overall system of care. The service works closely with the hub and other spoke agencies to ensure families experience coordinated, responsive, and relationship‑based supports, regardless of where they first connect within the Family Resource Network.
I have been with the Healthy Families program for a few years. I honestly wouldn’t be here today without their help and support. Five years ago I had given birth to my 4th child. He had extreme colic and wouldn’t sleep. I had no family or support system and developed postpartum depression. If it wasn’t for Healthy Families I don’t believe I would have made it through.
At two, my son was still not sleeping, he wasn’t talking, making eye contact or hand gestures. Healthy Families helped get him to the right people to get an early diagnosis of autism. They got me in touch with so many people and programs that now he is a thriving five year old. I have no clue where we would be had he not received that early intervention. I am forever grateful for the amazing people working with the Healthy Families Program. They are changing lives with every visit.
ASCEND Family and Parenting Support program provides targeted and intensive parent education and support to families with children and youth ages 0-24. A trained Family Support Practitioner works with families experiencing adversity to strengthen protective factors, increase their caregiver resilience, and address specific risk factors for their family.
Our Guiding Principles
OUR MISSION
We support people to work, learn, lead and play
OUR VISION
Excellence through listening, learning, and leading.
OUR PRINCIPLES
We believe in honour, dignity, and respect.
