LAKELAND – For two decades, the Lakeland Centre for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) has been working to bring awareness and an understanding to the community.
This year marks the centre’s 20th year in operation.
However, its beginnings date back to the 90s, when a group of people came together trying to find answers.
“It grew out of a grass roots community committee that was trying to understand more about FASD,” explained Audrey McFarlane, who was part of the original committee. “There wasn’t very much information, and there was very little research even about individuals and about prevention. The committee was ahead of its time trying to figure out how to support people in the community and to train professionals.”
After hitting a wall when it came to helping residents without having an official diagnosis, the group sent a team to Seattle, Washington to get properly trained. With the valuable knowledge they gained, the centre was launched in 2000 and a year later, in 2001, they adopted the name the Lakeland Centre for FASD.
Their first office space was at 4812 52 St., which is now the Best Western Inn. There were three employees at the time, including McFarlane as the executive director.
“I’m sure there’s a hot tub in my old office,” McFarlane laughed.
In the centre’s early years, they started to grow and offer more services than just diagnosing FASD.
“People could get a support worker, and then we started to also focus in on the prevention side of things. As families came through our diagnosis clinic, we identified moms that may still have difficulties with alcohol and were still having children. We were able to link them to some support services.”
According to McFarlane, the clinic “was the first one in Alberta and certainly the first rural model in Canada.”
McFarlane noted they’ve always had a laser focus on the issue.
“In our desire to bring awareness to the issue, we unfortunately put a lot of blame on moms and a lot of stigma on them without a lot of understanding at that time about the challenges that women face. The reasons that women drink during pregnancy are many and varied.”
She continued, “I think that’s one of the things that we’ve come to understand in the last 20 years is how women find themselves with children with FASD… We still recognize the challenges that people face, but we really try to focus on what their strengths are so that we can serve them from a more positive perspective rather than just identifying all the things that are wrong.”
When they first opened, the centre’s coverage area included Cold Lake, Bonnyville, Lac La Biche, Vegreville, Smoky Lake, and Fort Saskatchewan.
“The boundary line changed within social services, which was our main funding. We took the opportunity to mimic them,” McFarlane noted, adding they no longer serve Vegreville or Fort Saskatchewan.
Satellite offices were opened in 2008 in some of those communities, including Bonnyville, St. Paul, and Lac La Biche.
After outgrowing their previous offices, the Centre for FASD set up shop at their current location at 4823 50 St. in 2010.
Lisa Murphy, the current executive director, said their services focus on three pillars: diagnosis, prevention, and intervention services in the communities they serve.
They’ve expanded to offer four clinics that diagnose children, adults, and complex youth.
“They’re connected with an outreach worker, who helps them through the list of recommendations, to understand the diagnosis, and for families to understand what’s needed,” Murphy explained.
Their support services also include transition planning, employment services, counselling, and a summer camp for children with FASD.
In 2012, their footprint grew even more when they launched the 2nd Floor Women’s Recovery Centre, a nine-bed residential alcohol and drug treatment program that occupies the second floor of their building. The planning process began when staff noticed there was a gap in recovery programming that didn’t address their client’s needs.
When the committee originally began the initiative over 20 years ago, McFarlane never could have imagined it would grow to be what it is today.
“My original thought, and the committee’s at that time, was we would develop and deliver our services for five years,” she exclaimed.
Murphy hopes to continue growing alongside the centre and what they offer.
“I see us continuing to serve the clients where they’re at and what they need. If that means we need to revamp some of our programming, then we will base that on best practices and… research and we’ll develop around that.”
With two decades behind them, Murphy stressed they couldn’t have been as successful without the dedication of their staff.
“Our staff is amazing. They work hard, have the ability to think outside of the box, and what needs to be done for our clients,” she exclaimed.
A gala is being arranged as a celebration for their 20-year anniversary on June 26 at the Cold Lake Agriplex. For more information, call 780-594-9905.
