Queens Daycare extension under construction, September 2023. Photo Scott Christian

The South Shore chapter of the YMCA will take over operations of Queens Daycare.

President of the Queens Day Care Association Scott Christian says putting the centre in the hands of the YMCA will ensure the sustainability and long-term solvency of the daycare, while offering improved programming by providing more opportunities to professionalize and better support staff.

“It has become so incredibly arduous and challenging to stay apprised of, and responsive to the shifting landscape around early childhood development,” said Christian.

He says the provincial and federal governments have recognized the importance of providing childcare and have really thrown their support into the sector.

Christian says initiatives like $10 a day daycare, better training and increased wages for workers are all very welcome but all those measures come with a level of oversight that is difficult, if not impossible for a volunteer board to meet.

“When you have that type of corporate infrastructure you can just leave the day-to-day of, the on-site director really has to worry about relationships with the families and supporting the staffing compliment right?” said Christian. “Like, the actual day-to-day stuff and not having to worry about maintaining the building, managing the building, you know, and then reporting for funding and budgeting and you know, and then the list goes on and on and on.”

According to CEO South Shore YMCA Yvonne Smith, that is where they come in.

“There’s a lot happening with the, with the changes within the childcare environment and so we were really one of the first if not the first to transition a for-profit childcare to a license not-for-profit and that was the Greenwood transition which we did, and since then we’ve been working on some others,” said Smith.

Christian believes the YMCA is the right organization to lead the daycare in the years ahead.

“They’re really well suited. They are engaged and involved in provision of licensed childcare throughout Southwest Nova Scotia and this just is kind of, for me, it’s the next chapter, the next chapter of Queens daycare,” said Christian. “[It] makes a lot of sense I think that I applaud what we as a volunteer community group have been able to do, but it’s just time to recognize that the best decision for the operation is to allow an organization who’s better suited to be able to take it to the next level.”

Christian says the Queens Daycare Association and YMCA have been working on the deal for months.

They agreed they would wait to make the announcement until the association had an opportunity to inform staff and families of the change.

Now that the details have been worked out and those groups have been notified, Christian anticipates the YMCA will take over the day-to-day operations in early November.

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Queens County Daycare. Photo Ed Halverson

Queens County Daycare in Liverpool will more than double the number of available childcare spaces over the next year.

The funding is coming as part of the $29 million being invested in childcare across Nova Scotia by the federal government under the Canada-Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement that will see the creation of 1,500 new childcare spaces across the province by the end of the year.

Chair of the Queens County Daycare Association Scott Christian says the $2 million they receive will bring big changes including the construction of a new wing, renovating the existing building, and hiring new staff.

Once that work is complete the facility can add 49 new spaces on top of the existing 42 (which excludes the eight infant care spaces).

Christian says he has seen a huge shift in attitude from the provincial government around early childhood learning over the last number of years.

“I’m excited that the province is recognizing that it’s their responsibility,” said Christian. “That the education and development of children doesn’t become the province’s responsibility when they’re five-years-old and enter primary, that it’s earlier than that. They want to be part of the solution and so do we.”

Christian says the funding will bring changes to their home in the former Mount Pleasant School that will make it more suitable to care for pre-school aged children.

He says accessible washrooms and a kitchen are at the top of the list of improvements coming to the daycare.

Managing the timeline is key as the plan is to complete construction on the new 3,500 square foot annex so the children can be relocated before renovations begin on the existing building.

“The whole juggling act is that there can be no disruption of services.”

Christian recognizes from coming up with a design to obtaining permits to hiring a contractor, there’s a lot to do in a very short amount of time.

Still, he is optimistic construction will begin in the fall and a fresh group of young people will be joining Queens County Daycare when the work is done.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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Interior of the new infant care facility at Queens Daycare. Photo Ed Halverson

Parents of infants in Queens have a childcare option for the very first time.

The Queens Daycare Association officially opened their infant care centre for children as young as four months old on Tuesday.

Chair of the association’s board of directors Scott Christian says he knows from personal experience how essential the service will be for families who are new to Queens.

“I’m new to the community, I’ve only lived here for five years and I asked people, where do infants go? Where does your baby go when you needed to go back to work? It’s largely, that gap is filled by grandma or an aunt or uncle or a close family friend. But outside of that there’s really no opportunities,” said Christian.

The association began applying for grants in 2017 to build the $400,000 infant care facility.

The work was completed though a $250,000 grant received from the province and $150,000 in private donations.

Toys wait for kids in the new play area. Photo Ed Halverson

Already, three of the eight available infant spaces are filled and Christian expects now that the doors are open the remaining spots will be snapped up.

Queens Daycare Association is also licensed to provide care for 42 children in their afterschool, toddler and pre-school programs and there are almost another 40 on a waitlist to get in.

Christian says the need for licensed childcare in Queens is obvious.

“There were other facilities in the community who got out of it because of how challenging it is to be solvent. There’s really no opportunity for for-profit childcare in rural communities, so it’s up to non-profits like ours in the charitable sector to step in,” said Christian.

Scott Christian (center) cuts the ribbon to officially open the centre as board members and invited guests look on. Photo Ed Halverson

The proverbial paint is barely dry and already Christian says the association is looking to expand.

“We are the sole provider of licensed childcare in the community and with a waitlist like that and with the demographic trends, with so many new families moving to the area and properties being bought up, and whatnot, we know that there’s just going to be an increase in need for it.”

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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