Brantford, ON - On the morning of the 2024 Lansdowne Children's Centre Annual General Meeting June 19, visitors to 39 Mount Pleasant Street were greeted by bright new window graphics along the front of building facade, illustrating Lansdowne services and supports.
Installed by Matt Jackson, Jackson Signs of Brantford, the large-size window coverings are a first for Brantford's children's treatment centre and a step forward in helping the children's health organization tell their story and reframe the way the community thinks of the building.
Lansdowne was founded in 1974 and was housed in a section of Lansdowne Public School on Preston Boulevard. In 1998, centre operations relocated to 39 Mount Pleasant Street, the former Jane Laycock School. The perception of being a special needs school or childcare has long clouded the definition of what Lansdowne Children's Centre provides in Brantford, Brant County and the Grand Erie district.
Even after 50 years of providing interventions and rehabiliation, respite, and recreation services for infants, children and youth facing physical, developmental or communication challenges, Lansdowne continues to work on its communciations of the value its team and centres provide to families.
"We experience hundreds and thousands of persons passing by this location each day," said Joshua Paxton, communications supervisor for Lansdowne.
"This is one step towards helping community members, new and established, gain a better understanding of the work and support that goes on behind these walls, and in community locations around the region."
In the 2023-2024 annual report, Lansdowne Children's Centre reports having over 250 team members, operating from sites in Brantford, Simcoe, Caledonia and Dunnville, to cover the district of Grand Erie that spans over 4,000 square kilometres and includes counties of Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk, as well as Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississauga.
In addition to workling in centres, Lansdowne team members also provide services in community-based locations including schools, early learning environments, licensed childcare centres, before and after school programs, and community camps, and virtual services through streaming video when appropriate.
The new window graphics highlight some of the intervention and therapy services available to infants, children and youth in the community, and the family support services available to the parents/caregivers/siblings of children and youth with special needs.
Anyone with questions or concerns about their child's physical, communication or developmental abilities is encouraged to connect with the SmartStart Hub team.
Resources are available online to help inform and guide conversations, including developmental and communication checklists that provide generally accepted milestones for developing skills and abilities, such as crawling, play, imitation and noise making/speech.
Anyone with questions or concerns about a child's development may submit an online referral to SmartStart Hub. No doctor's diagnosis or referral is required.
SmartStart Hub can also be reached by phone during business hours, at 519-753-3153 x507, or toll free1-800-454-7186 ext. 507
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