Giving the town’s youth a stronger sense of place in the community will be top of mind for Kim Krawec as she officially takes the reins of Cochrane’s multi-faceted social organization at the end of the month.
“Families that have older children are facing some challenges – there isn’t a lot out there,” said the incoming manager of Cochrane Family and Community Support Services (FCSS). “We need to have some more preventative services … but also some services that can provide more of the in-depth support.
“We definitely have to take a big picture look and see what is needed.”
Earlier this summer, Krawec was named as successor to the retiring Susan Flowers in the role of FCSS manager, after working for more than a decade as co-ordinator of the Western Rocky View Family Link Centre.
She grew up in Saskatoon and moved to Cochrane in 2004 after completing her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Saskatchewan and Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Regina.
That same year, Krawec took a job as a family support worker in the town’s home visitation program.
The mother of three moved into her role at the family link centre shortly afterward and was named the head of FCSS earlier this year. She’s currently in the process of mentoring her own replacement, while learning the ropes from Flowers before she retires.
“Kim just has lots of energy – she’s good at creating relationships and partnerships in the community,” Flowers said of her successor. “Things are getting more complex all the time in the community so I think she’s just ready to go and make a difference.”
Krawec said one of her team’s main orders of business has been to dissect and prioritize the findings from the Cochrane Cares Survey – the town’s first needs assessment since 2009.
For two months this spring, more than 1,200 residents ages 18 to 64 responded to the survey, with such issues identified as 24-hour urgent care, housing for all income levels, affordable recreation, employment and more.
“There’s going to be absolutely no shortage of work for us to do,” said Krawec. “That’s going to be guiding our work … We want to make sure that the social infrastructure is keeping up with the social needs of our community.”
Residents also highlighted in the survey that the town has a strong network of support services for children and parents from birth to six years old – including workshops, parent link centre resources, a home visitation program and more – but “after the age of six, a lot of those supports aren’t available.”
“A lot of the supports for families they cut off around the age of six,” Krawec said. “It definitely came out as one of the priorities in the needs assessment.”
While Krawec didn’t go in to specifics about what programs they may be focusing on, she said her team will be talking to families and figuring out how best to grow and expand opportunities for youth between the ages of seven and 24 as she digs in deeper to her new position.
“I think every community needs that social infrastructure – it’s critical to everything within the community. It’s a continual process because our community is continually changing,” she said, adding she is thankful for the work she’s been able to do so far at FCSS and she only sees more positive impacts in the future.
“I love it. I really do,” she said. “It’s just an amazing place to work and to be in the community.”
