This August, Growing Minds is getting set to celebrate an auspicious occasion, the tenth anniversary of opening Niverville’s first and only licensed daycare centre. On August 22, Growing Minds’ staff and board members invite the community to come and celebrate with them from 5:00–8:00 p.m. in Hespeler Park.
The event will include old-fashioned family games and races, bouncy castles, as well as food and drinks which can be purchased inexpe-nsively thanks to the support of a number of local businesses. There will be no admission charge.
“We wanted to make it a community event because the community has played such a large role in its success,” says Helen Peters, chairperson of the Growing Minds parental board. “It’s not a fundraising event. It’s literally to continue building those bridges and relationships within the community, to thank everyone and to recognize those people that were involved over the years.”
Peters says that the event’s focus will be on young families, providing a means for parents to interact with their children and with other families, too. As a parent with children in Growing Minds, she recognizes the need for parents to have activities that don’t take them away from their kids any more than they need to be.
The event also welcomes those who have served in the centre in past years, community business people, members of town council, as well as grand-friends of the community’s children.
“We’re very blessed to be located in the Heritage Centre because our programs involve regular visits with grand-friends,” Peters says, in reference to the daycare’s interactive visits with residents of the personal care home. “Whenever my family goes biking, as soon as they see a silver-haired person they instantly shout out, “Hello grand-friend!” And, more often than not, this person will turn around with the biggest smile on their face and wave at them. My children now recognize anybody above that certain age as a grand-friend.”
For Peters and other parents, Growing Minds is one of the reasons that Niverville has been an attractive place to live and call home. Without a daycare facility, many families would not be able to live here.
“Way back, ten years ago, there were some ladies at Puratone who saw a need for a daycare and they didn’t quit,” Peters recalls. “They just never gave up until Growing Minds was up and running and so we owe a lot to those ladies.”
Five years ago, Peters joined the daycare’s parent board, whose role is to act as staff support, oversee the day-to-day running of the centre, and assist in budget preparation and fundraising efforts to provide enhancements to the centre.
“We want the best staff looking after our children, so we do the best job that we can of making our centre a good environment for staff to work in,” adds Peters, suggesting that childcare staff are often under-recognized and underappreciated in society, in spite of their important role in a parent’s and child’s life. “I think Growing Minds is one of the best daycares in southern Manitoba.”
In part, she says, it is because the staff go above and beyond to provide more than just a babysitting service. Ongoing programming allows the children to learn about their world and helps prepare them for their future. Regular themed activities will include the importance of recycling and environmental responsibility, learning where their food comes from and teaching them to care for animals.
Occasionally, members of the public service sector will be invited in to interact with the children, such as firefighters, RCMP officers, and ambulance attendants.
Though Growing Minds has been at maximum capacity for years, Peters suggests that they are always actively looking at ways to try and accommodate the many families who have yet to find a good licensed daycare facility close to home.
“We have a strategic committee that looks for opportunities to expand and grow,” says Peters. “They basically take a look at new projects and whether those projects are feasible. They spend a lot of time talking to the town and business partners within the town. We will always look for new opportunities, but they will be reliant on the province’s willingness to fund those extra spaces.”
Growing Minds has made inquiries into the promised daycare spaces coming to the new Niverville high school. At this stage, the space has been assigned to the second phase of development and won’t be ready for at least a year and a half. These will include infant and pre-school spots only. They’ve been informed by the province that there is little likelihood of future funding for school-age daycare spaces.
“School-age care, even nationwide, is a genuine concern for every community, and between the government and school boards, they are trying to figure out whose responsibility that is.”
In the meantime, Growing Minds’ objective will be to make sure that the existing centre and its children have a solid foundation to work on. As for the centre’s highlights and struggles over their ten years of service to the community, Peters says that they are pretty much one and the same.
“Every September, we’re not sure if we’re going to have enough school-age spots for our kids, and through some amazing organization and goodwill we have yet to turn a child away,” Peters reflects with a sense of awe. “Our director, assistant director, and the board have done everything in their utmost power so that, come September, everybody that’s in our care that needs a school-age spot has been able to get one. That’s through sheer dedication and something we can be very proud of.”
