Toronto, Ont. – April 12, 2021 – Today, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto (NCFST) celebrates the opening of the new Malvern Aboriginal Child and Family Centre, located at 31 Tapscott Road in Scarborough. This new multi-service centre will provide a new EarlyON Centre, as well as holistic, culture-based programs and services for Aboriginal children, their families and caregivers.
The virtual grand opening includes a virtual walk-through of the new site, a traditional opening, video statements from Minister of Education Stephen Lecce, Mayor John Tory and Native Child and Family Services of Toronto’s Executive Director, Dr. Jeffrey Schiffer, with an overview of the child-centred, family focused and community driven supports that will be delivered at this new centre.
EarlyON Child and Family Centre offers free programs to parents and caregivers and their children from birth to six years of age. The centre welcomes families to participate in programs that strengthens adult-child relationships, supports parent education and fosters healthy child development. Qualified professionals help families and caregivers find support, get advice, make personal connections and access a network of resources.
Funding for this initiative was provided by the Ministry of Education as part of the Journey Together Initiative – a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action report. The projects were designed by the community through a needs assessment led by Toronto Aboriginal Support Services Council (TASSC).
As EarlyON Centres are currently under a provincial closure order due to COVID-19, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto will continue to offer virtual and remote services from these new locations and continue to offer land-based programming in City of Toronto parks until they are permitted to open.