Ceremony launches website for Sudbury families

Greater Sudbury, Best Start Hubs and partner agencies, families and children officially launched a website for local families and professionals Thursday at a ceremony at city hall.

The website, www.sudburybeststart.ca, is a partnership between Greater Sudbury, education, early learning, health and social service organizations that serve children and families in the city. The website brings together local information, programs, activities and events for families.

“Greater Sudbury’s Best Start Hubs are a wonderful resource for all families,” Mayor Marianne Matichuk said in a news release Thursday. “The addition of online and social media tools will make this valuable service even more accessible to families.”

The Best Start Network is a partnership of education, early learning, health and social services serving children and families in Greater Sudbury. The Network receives administrative and coordination support from the City of Greater Sudbury.

“We have worked hard in our community to make our services more seamless for families and to help make finding the right help less confusing,” said Megan Dumais, chair of the Best Start Network, in the release.

“Our Best Start Hubs -- free family centres in schools where families can access quality programs and connect to all the other services they might need -- are a great example of this,” said Dumais, who also works for the Sudbury and District Health Unit.

“And now our website can provide many of these supports to busy families, from the comfort of their homes or offices.”

The website contains a library of nearly 100 topics related to child health, development and learning from pregnancy up to age 12. Each links families to high-quality information and resources and to the related programs and services offered in Greater Sudbury.

It also has a searchable community events calendar of all activities going on for children and families in the city, including schedules of Best Start Hubs, libraries, arenas, pools, as well as community events, festivals, parenting workshops and sports registrations.

“I can find the answers to many of my clients’ questions in the Library of Topics,” said Sue Adduono, a registered early childhood educator, is quoted as saying in the release.

“I also receive email and Facebook updates from the community calendar, so I always know what events are coming up for families. This not only helps me as a professional, but as a grandma, as well. I’m always looking for fun and educational things to do with my grandson.”

Families with children up to 12 are encouraged to visit the site and join the Facebook at www.facebook.com/sudburybeststart.ca.