It's a telling sign of the longevity and effectiveness of the Queen Elizabeth II Family Centre that generations of Canberra families have now been through its doors.
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Robyn Steele, now of Crace, attended the centre with all three of her children, first in 1976 with her daughter Melissa when it was in Civic.
Melissa went on to take her own daughter, Ava, there two weeks after the birth in 2009. By then, the centre had long been a landmark in its current location in Curtin, an accredited public hospital but more a home away from home for families seeking help for children up to three years old.
"I knew of QEII and I kind of always thought if I had a problem I would stand at their door and bang it down until I got in," Melissa (now Rath) said, with a laugh.
"And it literally changed my life."
While families do need a referral (rather than a bang on the door), QEII has helped thousands of families in what is now 50 years of service, guided by the Canberra Mothercraft Society.
Problems from unsettled babies to infants failing to thrive have been tackled by the dedicated staff and through a residential service that allows parents and children the time to focus on the problem and solution.
Melissa, 36, needed help breastfeeding Ava and after attending QEII went on to breastfeed her until she was 13 months.
"If I was asked exactly what they did, I can't say, I kind of did it myself, but they were there to help me and I don't think I could have done it without them," she said.
Melissa's second child Cooper, now one, was a breeze by comparison.
"I think everything I learnt from there I applied to him," she said.
Her mother Robyn also sought help from QEII more than three decades earlier because she was having trouble feeding Melissa.
"The biggest thing was giving me the reassurance that I could be a mum, I could do it," she said.
Robyn went on to have a special connection with the centre, working there for almost 22 years, finally as its operations manager when she retired late last year. She said QEII was treasured even in the early days.
"People told me back then it was the family they didn't have because a lot of people had come to Canberra for work and they didn't have the extended family support. So QE was that sort of extended family," she said.
* The Queen Elizabeth II Family Centre is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a gala dinner at the Hellenic Club in Woden on May 25. Fund-raising on the night will go towards refurbishing the children's play area at the centre. Bookings are through the club on 6281 0899.
