The Research and Development Department of Heritage Family Services oversees Central Referral, Staff Development, Affordable Housing and Transitional Housing.  When a new program is developed it initially falls under the scope of Research and Development until such time it establishes stability and the policy manual is created.  The Manager of Research and Development also assists in re-development of current programs based on demands from contracting bodies.  Any organizational restructuring also falls under this department. 

Process for development of new programs:

Review RFP’s (Request for Proposals) which are usually posted on the Alberta Purchasing website.  The CEO, Manager of Service Delivery and the Manager of Research and Development decide if Heritage has the capacity to respond to an RFP.  If the decision is to proceed then the Manager of Research and Development completes the necessary research to prepare the proposal.   If the proposal is successful then resources are put into place to develop the new program.

NEWS

Foster Care

Heritage Families Wetaskiwin started on November 01, 2008.  The Heritage Families Wetaskiwin has six families who reside Morningside and North surrounding the Ponoka area.  Holly Seamone is the Program Coordinator, Barb Magee is the Family Support Worker, and Lavona Bailer is the Therapist.  To contact this program call (780) 352-6084.  This program is actively recruiting new foster families.  If you are interested, please contact Holly at the above office number.

Affordable Housing

Heritage submitted a proposal to the City of Red Deer on August 29, 2008 and was successfully awarded 1.3 million dollars for an Affordable Housing Project in partnership with the Red Deer Native Friendship Society (RDNFS).  Additionally we submitted a similar proposal to the Province on September 16, 2008 to request funding for the remainder of the project. Heritage, RDNFS and the City of Red Deer will partner to provide a new housing development located on undeveloped land located on the Michener North Site.  This affordable housing project will initially add 33 new units to the City of Red Deer's affordable housing stock. At this time it is unknown how many additional units will be added in future phases of the project.  The philosophical concept includes wrap around services for low income Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal individuals, families, seniors.  There will be a total of 6 accessible housing units in phase one of the project.  If you would like more information regarding this project please contact Joleen @ 403-343-3422 ext 34 or joleen@heritagefamilyservices.com. 

Maynard Dueck has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, and is presently working on his MBA with Royal Roads University.

Maynard has followed his values back to Heritage Family Services where his employment is more directly in-line with ensuring people have access to opportunities to succeed.

He has held various community board positions, including: the Manitoba Consortium for Continuous Improvement; Secretary of the Parent Advisory Council at Renfrew Educational Services Calgary, Chair of the Arborg Early Middle Years Before School Program, and Founder/Chair of the Red Deer College Sociology Society.