Once a week, this free play group is organized by the Tupper Lake-based Family Matters Resource Center, a spin-off of the play groups it hosts in Tupper Lake.

The play groups are just one of the many free services the center provides to local families.

The Saranac Lake play group meets every Wednesday at the Saranac Lake Baptist Church from 9:30 a.m. to noon and around 10 to 15 families attend.

The Family Matters Resource Center is operated by the Child Care Coordinating Council of the North Country — a nonprofit hub for all parenting and child care locally.

Lyra jumps around in a bounce house at the weekly, free Wednesday play group at the Saranac Lake Baptist Church, organized by the Family Matters Resource Center.(Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Resource Center Coordinator Kristy Conlon started the Saranac Lake play group several years ago, and it has become a very popular fixture of the center’s schedule.

“Bring us your testy toddlers,” Resource Center Project Director Juliette Lynch said. “We’re used to that.”

Resource Center Program Assistant Briaddy called it a “soft introduction to pre-school.”

The parents and children who meet at the play group sessions become friends and organize outings with each other outside of the center’s scheduled events.

Dan Woodruff has brought Hazel, 3, to the group since she was 11 months old.

Harper Demarco and Freya Burns play around in a bounce house at the weekly, free Wednesday play group at the Saranac Lake Baptist Church, organized by the Family Matters Resource Center.(Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“It’s the best kids thing we’ve found around here,” he said.

The church has a big gym for running around and the space provides for a lot of play. The church donates its ride-on toys for the group to use.

“All of us parents work at different times, so it’s nice to be able to get them all together for a play date that we don’t have to plan,” Woodruff said. “(Hazel) doesn’t even know what Wednesday is, but every Wednesday, she’s like ‘play group today!'”

He said the group has contributed to Hazel’s social development.

“When we first got here she was pretty shy and timid. And now, as you can tell …” Woodruff said, gesturing at Hazel running around and shouting with her friends. “I credit this play group with a lot of her social expansion. … She’s grown up with these kids basically. They’re all her close buddies.”

–

How to get involved

–

The center also organizes family socials — barbecues, beach days, farm trips or museum visits. It provides tickets and gas cards for people to attend. Conlon said many of their families are one-income families, and inflation is hitting all families hard right now. The center also facilitates donations of clothes and food and assists parents with grocery and utilities bills.

Conlon said the center has 151 Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake families enrolled in its programs, with 54 new this year. Across all its events, she said they had 2,150 total visits last year, with the average family attending 14 visits a year.

All of this is offered for free.

The council is funded through grants from the state Office of Children and Family Services and Lynch said they make the programs as accessible as possible.

“By hook or by crook, we figure it out,” she said.

The council also accepts donations, which can be made by contacting Lynch at jlynch@ccccnc.org.

To get involved in the family programs, Conlon said to contact them through their “Family Matters Resource Center” Facebook page. This page is updated regularly and has a calendar of events showing something happening just about every day of the week. Briaddy said they also accept walk-ins at the play groups.

–

Supporting families

–

Lynch got into the field 20 years ago because, after working a child care job right out of college, she was learning skills and felt that if more parents knew them, they could use them.

People aren’t born knowing how to parent, after all, she said.

“I just really believe that families are the foundation of a strong society, and I think that society needs to do more to support families,” Lynch said.

Children used to be raised in more communal, multi-generational societies, she said — cultures where there were “many laps” for the children.

“The way our societies have evolved, we parent in isolation,” Lynch said. “And it’s maybe not the best for us. And I think that these kinds of programs recreate that community.”

The coronavirus pandemic brought a time when families were taken care of, she said, referencing stimulus money and other financial supports.

“When families have fewer financial concerns, their stress level goes down and they’re better able to be present for their families,” Lynch said.

Outside of a pandemic, she said parenting and child-rearing should be more affordable.

Lynch said there’s a state child care assistance program where a family of four earning $108,000 or less annually can get child care for $15 a week.

An eligibility form for this program can be found at hs.ocfs.ny.gov/CCAPeligibility.

The center also hosts informational sessions to educate parents about how to navigate these sorts of programs.