Image above left to right: Lucia Perez, Alesha McDowell, Lindsay Friis, Heather Grealey, Angie Carter, Kezia Addison, Marika Gould, Elise Patteson and Laura McCaffrey
A core program at the Comox Valley Child Development Association, the teams provide inclusive, culturally sensitive care to all children, with the Aboriginal Supported Child Development team providing culturally safe and sensitive programs to First Nations, Inuit and Metis children and families.
Their programs and services – informed by CanChild’s F-Words for Childhood Disability approach – include early intervention programs, autism services, community outreach, child care resource and referral, early years wellness programming and kindergarten transition support.
Kindergarten transitions can be a confusing and stressful time for families. Coordinating with schools, caregivers and educators, the teams have created plans for families to make the transition smoother, resulting in calmer parents and more confident kids.
“We have been so appreciative of the support through SCD,” said a parent. “The social stories and additional support implemented last year made a world of difference for our family and we are very grateful.”
“She [a member of the SCD team] has truly been amazing with every step of our frustrating journey,” said another parent. “I don’t know what we would have done without her. She has provided us with numerous resources to read up on, offered us online meetings to help us understand difficult children, always replied to our emails, [and] whenever we asked to speak with her, she has always been there.”
The teams believe that quality, welcoming and inclusive child care is a right. They work with families and community partners to create environments where children can thrive and families can feel seen, supported and valued. Committed to prevention, inclusion and collaboration, their work has a deep meaningful impact on families and communities.
“The nominees all reflected a deep commitment to meaningful and responsive support for families” said Joseph Dunn, the BC Council for Families Executive Director, “and offered services that supported families to thrive through education, collaboration and awareness raising.”
Mission Literacy in Motion and Inas Lasheen, REACH Community Health Centre, each won BC Council for Families’ 2025 Carol Matusicky Distinguished Service to Families Awards, which were presented at the Council’s virtual Annual General Meeting on June 24th. Jordan Platana, Archway Community Services, also received honourable mention.
This year’s other exceptional award nominees were:
- Beacon Community Services Collaboration with Individual Learning Centre
- Christina Campbell and Cassandra Strain, Kinship Care Help Line, Parent Support Services Society of BC
- Sophie’s Place Child and Youth Advocacy Centre
- Adora Wong, Okanagan Similkameen Neurological Society Child and Youth Development Centre
About the Award
The Carol Matusicky Distinguished Service to Families Award was established in 1987, and was renamed the Carol Matusicky Distinguished Service to Families Award in 2014 to honour the Council’s late Executive Director. Carol served the agency with distinction for 23 years, from 1984 to 2007 advocating for families and children across the province.
This award is distributed to a collaborative initiative, organization or program and an individual(s) family services professional(s) that has had a demonstrable, measurable impact on the well being of families and/or the field of human services in British Columbia.