Who We Are
We believe that mothers are the catalyst for change within their families and communities.
1. We are a national organization housed in Vancouver, BC
The Mothers Matter Centre — previously known as the Home Instruction Program for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) Canada — is a not-for-profit, registered charity incorporated in October 2001. We are a virtual, national consortium of organizations dedicated to serving socially isolated and low economic status mothers and their families.
2. Our mother-to-mother approach is unique
We work with isolated mothers where they live – at home – connecting them with other mothers in their communities who share an intimate awareness of the issues and challenges they face. Since our inception, the Mothers Matter Centre has transformed over 60,000 lives. We helped more than 22,600 mothers gain new skills and abilities essential to strengthening mother-child relationships. This means their children and families were better prepared to get the most from their early school experiences.
3. Our programs are designed to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty, low literacy, and social isolation
Our foundational program, Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), was piloted in 2000 at the Britannia Community Service Centre in Vancouver, BC, HIPPY. Since then, it has grown to 25 sites across Canada each of which helps 35 – 100 families each year.
Bond to Literacy is a 12-week early literacy program adapted from the HIPPY program for low-income, disadvantaged families who struggle with issues that may prevent them from making a long-term commitment.
The Adopt-a-Reader campaign provides an opportunity for HIPPY families to “adopt” other parents in their community for a three-week campaign that focuses on parent-child bonding through reading.
Our Newcomer Innovations are designed to help immigrant families settle into Canadian society. The Mothers Matter Centre and its partners’ research, design, test and evaluate the feasibility of social innovations to ensure the well-being, dignity, and social connections of high-risk vulnerable mothers.
4. We are committed to continuous program monitoring and refinement
We are committed to a comprehensive performance management process (PMP) that holds itself accountable to its stakeholders, funders and, most importantly, to the families it serves. This process gives us real-time data needed to adjust programming strategies to better serve clients. The performance management approach helps us and our partners measure and understand the process of change.
Our Three Pillars of Change
Once isolated, at-risk mothers develop the knowledge and capacity they need to take control of their lives and become effective parents and engaged citizens. The work of the Mothers Matter Centre is consolidated in three pillars of change:
scale
Scale a high-profile, sustainable, evidence-based social initiative called the Mothers Matter Centre.
inspire
Inspire social change by innovating, implementing, and supporting evidence-based programs in collaboration with Canadian communities that are motivated to support full inclusion of isolated mothers and their families. Inspire activities will include Aboriginal and Multicultural HIPPY, professional education and program innovations.
lead
Lead Canada in a movement for the social and economic inclusion of isolated women with research, knowledge-sharing and advocacy. Our work will continue to be research-based, with continuous program monitoring and refinement. We are committed to high-quality performance management standards, external evaluation and sharing of knowledge.
