Education Programming at WWCC

HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) is an internationally-recognized trademarked program that was brought to Canada in 2001. At Working Women Community Centre, the HIPPY program provides newcomer families with the tools and support that allow them to make a real difference in their children’s lives. Parents are empowered to help their children successfully enter the school system, thrive in school, and integrate into Canadian society faster and easier.

As part of our Education programming, HIPPY is funded by Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), and recognizes that parents are their children’s first and best teachers. Research has shown that the ideal time for children to start learning is in their earliest years. Through early intervention, the program assists immigrant families with their settlement needs, ensures enhanced success for children headed to kindergarten, and enables parents to play a key role in this learning and settlement process.

Home visitors are employed to work with HIPPY families in their homes. The home visitors bring a new set of instructional materials weekly, and using role-play, they spend one hour per week reviewing the materials with the parents. Parents then deliver lessons to their child in 15-minute daily sessions. Newcomer families make a two-year commitment to participate in the program over 30 weeks per year, concurrently with the school year.

Throughout the city of Toronto, Working Women Community Centre runs HIPPY in the following neighborhoods:

• Downtown West, Francophone and Karen communities
• Malvern community
• Thorncliffe Park/Flemingdon and Victoria Village communities
• Jane and Finch community

We work in collaboration with several community partners that include: Davenport Perth Neighbourhood & Health Centre, Malvern Family Resource Centre, Rouge River Ontario Early Years Center, Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, and Flemingdon Neighbourhood Services.

In 2014, our HIPPY program expanded its services to include the very first Young Mothers Project for women 29 years and younger who have children ages 3-5, with a focus on children’s education development and relationship building.

During the past few years and through each of our HIPPY cycles, we have served over 1000 families and 1200 children all across the sites in Toronto. Go to http://www.mothersmattercentre.ca/ to find out more about HIPPY in Canada.

Immigrant and refugee women and their families experience many short and long term barriers to integration. Our services ranges from assistance with basic survival and orientation, such as securing social assistance, to helping long time immigrants who continue to experience barriers.

Newly arrived immigrants receive one-to-one information, orientation, referrals, documentation, interpreting, translation, occasional escorts, supportive counselling and advocacy.

Through intake and assessment, staff is able to provide information and counselling as well as referral to other services in the community. Client are provided with settlement information and support in such areas as:

• Temporary or permanent housing;
• Child care services and public education for children;
• English language classes;
• Interpretation services;
• Employment services;
• Government services (Social Insurance Number, Health Card, etc.);
• Legal services and legal aid;
• Access to Health services;
• Training and adult education programs; and
• Completion and assistance with immigration forms and processes.

WWCC’s settlement services are offered across the city of Toronto at our offices and several community and health centres.

WWCC also hosts an annual income tax clinic for low-income clients with volunteer interpreters available.

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