CLAN Midland has been successfully providing support to enhance skills and the quality of the home environment for parents and families with children under 18 and individuals in the community. CLAN delivers services that focus on equipping families to provide a supportive and caring home environment where children can develop and learn to their full potential. Their programs focus on building a family’s resilience, skills capacity and confidence to improve life opportunities and reduce the barriers to effective parenting.
CLAN had its humble beginnings back in 1993 when the Community Links Network was formed by a passionate group of local individuals and service providers who were inspired by a quote from anthropologist Margaret Mead who said:
“We now expect a family to achieve alone what no society has ever expected an individual family to accomplish unaided. In effect, we call upon the individual family to do what a whole clan used to do.”
The ideology was to engage volunteers to act as a surrogate clan around families to support parents. Over the years CLAN Midland grew and, in addition to volunteers, employed family support workers to extend their work into the early intervention space.
Fiona Lee has been the Executive Manager of CLAN Midland since 2010 and feels privileged to have seen some incredible staff, volunteers and students come to CLAN.
“Programs like Families and Schools Together and Being a Parent, with that peer-led approach, has been an integral and really important part of what we’re doing. It warms my heart to see so many CLAN staff come through as parents in programs and then go on to be leaders in the programs.”
Since its inception in 1993, CLAN Midland has developed a strong reputation for supporting families in the City of Swan and the surrounding community.
Indigo Junction is thrilled to be integrating CLAN Midland’s programs and services into the offerings provided by our organisation.
2025 marks the next stage in CLAN Midland’s journey as they come together with Indigo Junction to help children and families thrive in safe, nurturing and connected communities.
This month, we officially welcomed CLAN Midland to the Indigo Junction team with a lovely morning tea at Karlup Community Engagement Hub. We heard from CLAN’s Executive Manager Fiona Lee and Chairperson Megan Dawson as well as Indigo Junction’s CEO Sharon Gough and Board Chair Ron Mell speak about the value of strengthening our partnership and its benefits to the wider Midland community.
“To prevent homelessness, you have to do more than simply provide a house. It’s so important that we build services prior to a person getting into a homelessness situation. Building strong families and strong communities is the absolute essence of that – and CLAN does that. And so, it’s a fantastic adjunct to the services Indigo has and we certainly want to see those services build for that primary purpose Indigo is here – which is to ensure that young people, children and families aren’t homeless.” – Ron Mell
CLAN Midland Programs
FAST – Family and Schools Together
An opportunity for the whole family to come together, share in a meal and family- based activities aimed at strengthening the parent/child relationship and connection to peers and the wider community. Empowering parents, connecting families, and strengthening community engagement.
- KidsFAST – Parents and primary school aged children
- BabyFAST – Young parents (under 24) with children 0-3 and their grandparents
- Early Years FAST – Parents with children 0-3
EPEC Empowering Parents Empowering Communities –
8 -week Being a Parent program facilitated by parents for parents, engaging parents to talk to other parents as a first choice when seeking information.
Learn more about EPEC
Community Links Project –
Supports people to use their talent, skills and knowledge to start their own projects, groups and initiatives to make our communities better places to live.
Learn more about Community Links
Read Play Grow –
Supports parents with children aged 0-3 years as the primary teacher in their child’s life by exploring the everyday things we can do to support child development.
Learn more about Read Play Grow
Paint the Swan Raed –
An early literacy campaign, that is part of a national collective, that encourages the whole community to get behind the importance of literacy in the early years.
Learn more about Paint the Swan Read
Happy Healthy Families –
An 8-week program supporting participants to move from processed and packaged foods to whole foods and for participants to have the skills and information to provide adequate nutrition for their families.
Learn more about Happy Healthy Families
