Last year, as part of a joint venture between the RM of Ritchot and Niverville Heritage Holdings Inc. (NHHI), government grants were secured to build a 90-spot daycare facility in St. Adolphe, along with the promise of operational funding after the daycare was built.
That joint venture was dissolved earlier this year. However, the 90 daycare spots were transferred from NHHI to the St. Adolphe Nursery School’s control earlier this year, and since that time the nursery school board and the municipality have been working together to make the daycare a reality. All the stakeholders involved in the project agree that these daycare spots are essential to this growing community.
“The 90 new spots will be an awesome addition to the current spots and will be helpful in getting childcare to more families,” says Kori Plesiuk, chairperson of both the new daycare board and the board for the St. Adolphe Nursery School, which currently has 38 licensed daycare spots of its own. “I know that 90 spots seems like a tiny amount when the town is growing so rapidly, but as far as licenced daycares go this one will be quite large!”
Ritchot Councillor Janine Boulanger says that a daycare project taskforce was assembled in the spring and has been meeting at least once a month ever since. The taskforce includes Boulanger and fellow councillors Ron Mamchuk and Shane Pelletier, along with Pesiuk and a few other members of the St. Adolphe Nursery School board.
“We met more frequently when we first started out, and it will vary according to demand and timelines of the project,” says Boulanger. “We have always made the deadline clear to all parties involved and our understanding is that it is an attainable deadline.”
According to Plesiuk, quite a lot has been going on behind the scenes. “We have been involved in trying to raise enough money by fundraising, to be proactive,” she says. “Plus we have been looking into what other centers have done to expand or build new childcare centres. Also, we have been trying to find a site that could accommodate a childcare centre verses a new build. We are trying to find someone to partner with us that would have the centre’s best interests in mind, and the community’s best interests in mind as well.”
Pesiuk adds that the board will face some key hurdles in the coming months, including tight time constraints, meeting government expectations and policies, applying for grants, cutting through bureaucratic red tape, and getting enough financial backing to finally move forward with the new daycare centre.
The fundraising efforts have been underway for quite some time.
“We formed a subcommittee to help with fundraising,” says Pesiuk. “So far we have started Chase the Ace, which is every Wednesday night from 7:00 to 9:45 at the St. Adolphe Motor Inn… We are also looking at hosting a New Year’s social.”
Another fundraising project, timed to coincide with the Back to School season, involves selling Mabel’s Labels. These are attractive products which can be used by students and their parents to keep track of school, daycare, camp, and travel items. Those wanting to support the daycare initiative can select the St. Adolphe Nursery School Inc. fundraiser upon checkout, pledging 20 percent of their purchase toward the daycare.
“We are a little behind on our schedule,” Pesiuk acknowledges. “But things seem to be speeding up now that summer is coming to a close.”
In addition to fundraising, a key priority will be nailing down the location of the daycare.
“We have done a lot of preliminary work in determining the best location, weighing out the pros and cons of each, and are moving forward with preliminary costing for the ideal location,” says Boulanger. “We have sent out an RFP [request for proposal] to architectural firms for design and construction management services… Once we have the RFPs back from the architects, we will have a better understanding of exactly what we are dealing with cost-wise. This will guide us in determining which direction to take.”
Boulanger adds that it hasn’t yet been decided whether the daycare will go into a current building or a new build. She says that both scenarios are being considered.
According to Pesiuk, though, the board is leaning toward the building formerly occupied by Big Country RV on Main Street. She notes that the structure would need to be retrofitted to meet daycare standards.
However, Pesiuk says it’s not a done deal whether the daycare board will end up partnering with the municipality.
“We have been meeting with the RM and have proposed partnering with them, but that is not a guarantee as of yet,” says Pesiuk. “The volunteer board at the daycare has put countless hours into this project, and we appreciate the community’s support in this as well. We need all of the help and support we can get, whether it be a monetary donation or volunteering time at one of our fundraisers. This project can’t happen without community support”
Boulanger stresses that as soon as more definite information is available, council will share the finer details with the public.
“Council is determined to work with the daycare board to make this dream come true for them and the community,” Boulanger says.
