What We Do
About Strive Niagara
Strive is a non-profit, social service organization dedicated to assisting and fostering the independence of young families pursuing an education through the provision of quality child care and other necessary supports.
Centre Based Child Care
We provide quality licensed child care in St. Catharines, Welland and Niagara Falls. With staff who are Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs), we offer care for children from birth to 6 years. RECEs demonstrate a thorough knowledge of child development theories. They use this knowledge to plan, implement and assess developmentally appropriate learning strategies.
Outreach Program
For many young parents it is not possible to return to a regular mainstream school with the added responsibilities of an infant. The Outreach class is an informal program offering personalized academic and parenting support where you can achieve high school credits. As part of the Outreach Program, Strive also supports expectant students in their last trimester.
Resource Consultant
Strive has qualified Resource Consultants on staff. The Resource Consultant recognizes a child’s unique characteristics, and assesses the resources necessary to adapt the early learning environment to suit the child. They recognize that child development milestones and behaviors vary and they acknowledge and respect those differences.
Support Services
Strive aims to establish and maintain reciprocal relationships with the young student parent and their children under the professional supervision of the agency. These relationships are based on trust, openness and respect for confidentiality. Strive Niagara collaborates with community partners, NCDSB, and Public Health to exchange knowledge and share best practices and resources to utilize the best support for the families who access our programs.
Strive Niagara Outreach Classroom
In partnership with the Niagara Catholic District School Board (NCDSB), Strive Niagara provides an informal classroom environment in two sites across Niagara. This is a comfortable and safe place where pregnant and parenting adolescents can work on both academic credits with a teacher as well as psychoeducational programming with an outreach facilitator.
In addition, a healthy nutrition program is available at both sites. Both of our classroom locations are located within one of our licensed child care programs. The proximity of space between the young parent’s classroom and our licensed child care Centre allows for young participants to return to school after birth as soon as they feel ready.
To register for the classroom or to know more about the program, please contact:
Amy Marconi, Manager of Outreach & Community Engagements
Ph: (905) 735-2566, ext. 241
Fax: (905) 714-0337
Why We Offer This Program
This program provides opportunities for young parenting or pregnant individuals to be in a supportive, unique and non-judgmental environment that fosters community, acceptance, and the support to work towards their goals. By providing child care and other support we can assist young parents to work towards a better future for themselves and their children.
In addition, with our partners, services and supports include:
Counseling and emotional support
Parenting and life skills training
Goal setting
Vocational / career counseling
Niagara College Recruitment
Budgeting guidance
Crisis intervention
Academic credit
for high school graduates in partnership with the Niagara Catholic District School Board
Home visiting
health services and support in partnership with Niagara Regional Public Health Department and Healthy Babies / Healthy Children
One-on-one and group counseling
regarding healthy relationships and family violence in partnership with Design for a New Tomorrow
Pre-employment and employability skills
in partnership with Career Training