Community engagement
Helping kids access the programs they need to succeed.
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Healthy Kids is in a neighbourhood near you!
Thunder Bay District Health Unit in partnership with Our Kids Count and The City of Thunder Bay Recreation and Culture Division, has received funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and in-kind contributions from local community partners to implement the Healthy Kids H.O.M.E. (Health on the Move for Equity) Program in the Windsor Street, Academy Heights, Minnesota Park, and Westfort neighbhourhoods.
Guided by a steering committee made up of organizations and agencies that span many sectors, the H.O.M.E. program is a true collaboration focused on providing programs and services in these four priority neighbourhoods, filling needs identified by residents who live there. The voices of these neighbourhood residents is key to offering and coordinating classes, workshops, and access to community services in an equitable manner, addressing barriers such as cost, childcare, and transportation.
H.O.M.E. Program
Grounded in an Asset-Based Community Development model, the H.O.M.E. program recognizes and leverages neighbourhood resources, like residents’ existing networks and skills, that can empower people and inspire positive change at the community level. The overarching goal of the H.O.M.E. program is to improve the health of an estimated 1200 children & their families through:
Delivery of health promoting programming in these neighbourhoods
Supporting sustainability of health behaviour change
Four Neighbourhoods
The neighbourhoods (Windsor Street, Academy Heights, Minnesota Park, and Westfort) were chosen based on the following community data:
Early Development Instrument, or EDI measures children’s ability to meet age appropriate developmental expectations
Social Risk Index, or SRI measures socioeconomic status on 9 indicators, all relating to early child development
Community Assets are anything that improves the quality of community life, including licensed child care spaces, social housing, the built environment, the natural environment, access to early years services, and access to food
14 Trillium Way, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
16-288 Windsor Street, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
277 Pacific Avenue, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
Our Locations
Currently, there are Healthy Kids sites located in social housing units in the Blucher-Windsor-Picton area (#16-288 Windsor St) and Academy Heights neighbourhood (14 Trillium Way). Over the next two years, Healthy Kids sites will be added to the McKellar Park and Westfort areas (specific locations to be determined). These Healthy Kids sites are safe spaces where our team facilitates programming at no cost to participants, often offering childcare while parents and caregivers participate in workshops like community kitchens, playgroups, craft tutorials, and counselling sessions.
14 Trillium Way, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
16-288 Windsor Street, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
