Once West Side Family Place was established, word spread, and many parents travelled across Vancouver to this new kind of facility for young families. Enjoying the experience, it wasn’t long before parents took the idea back to their own neighbourhoods.
In Vancouver during the mid-70s, the City was proactive on a number of social issues and wanted to strengthen neighbourhoods by offering grants, even if the funding was often experimental with no overall strategy. By the end of the 1970s, Vancouver and the surrounding areas had at least a half-dozen Family Places using these grants to offer programs modelled after the original West Side Family Place. Many of them are still open today providing much-needed support to young children, parents and caregivers.
Have you been to one of the other Vancouver Family Places? Mention them below!
Thank you to @davidrichardson.realtor and @vancitycu for making it possible for us to explore our rich history on our 50th anniversary.
Thank you to Lenore Rudick for the image of the tree created back in the late 70s.
