The Chrysalis Project

History
The Chrysalis Project Family Support Drop-In Centre was established in 1994 to support teenage parents in an area where teenage pregnancy was common. It was set up as the result of the work of Dr Margaret Parke, a clinical school doctor attached to Alexandra Park Health Centre. The centre was first based at the Health Centre, then applied to get its own premises, with the support of community worker Mrs Elouise Edwards and councillor Clare Nangle. At the time, the only property available was in Gooch Close, which was full of boarded up properties, and the dilapidated old building had been used as a drug den. The community came together and helped to make it a place where people, especially young parents, could come together and share their problems. They obtained funding for three years from Children in Need, and further support from the health authority and the city council.

Services
The vision of the centre is to support families, and the work they do with families with children in care or at risk of being taken into care includes advice and teaching of parenting skills based on culturally appropriate models. The families may be referred by social services, the city council or health visitors, or they may be self-referred, having learned by word of mouth about the work Chrysalis is doing.
There is a child-care centre which supports parents who are working or studying and a homework club which uses volunteers from the university and Reach Out. The centre also runs an ESOL class as and when there are sufficient volunteers and funding, and can provide speakers on culturally appropriate parenting.

Funding
The Centre currently has no funding, and the income from its childcare charge is insufficient to cover costs – most of the staff are volunteers, though there are two paid workers. Julie Asumu, the Project Manager for Chrysalis, has been working on a voluntary basis since she relinquished her paid position in 2008.

Highs and Lows
Julie said that the thing she enjoys most about her work is that clients who have been helped by the project usually come back to show their appreciation, including becoming volunteers or joining the management committee. The hardest thing is that she has done so much on her own for so long, and feels that when she eventually leaves there will be a vacuum.

She said that the thing which would help the project most would be funding and a more sustainable income; it would help if other agencies would buy into its services.

Find out more about Chrysalis on their website:
http://www.freewebs.com/chrysalis-manchester/