This past month, Tisdale was announced as one of six communities across the province to receive funding for the development of an Early Years Family Resource Centre (EYFRC), which would bring Saskatchewan’s total up to 21.
Now, the committee for this northeast project is working on finding their forever home, which will service their wants and needs.
These wants and needs are based on their four pillars, which includes early learning, parent education, family wellness and support, and providing information and referrals.
“We’re looking for a location in Tisdale that would be a fairly large space where we could have various opportunities for our families to engage,” EYFRC lead developer, Reanne Usselman told northeastNOW.
“Early learning is enhancing child development through positive experiences in play, parent education is strengthening their knowledge of creating nurturing environments for their families, family wellness and support assists families to identify and build skills to support family health and wellness, and providing information and referrals links families to other supports within their community and beyond if they need any assistance,” she added.
Funding has been provided through the Canada-Saskatchewan Bilateral Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, with each centre receiving $215,000 worth of startup money.
The communities were selected following analysis based on a combination of population, vulnerability and community readiness required to successfully develop and operate a centre.
According to Usselman, the community feels lucky to have received the government investment, especially considering there’s already one in Nipawin.
“We’re very fortunate in the northeast, there was a bit of concern to have a center so close to Nipawin, but the data showed we need to support our families and youth in this area. Our needs in our society and our communities right now are assisting our children to get to a healthier development.”
Originally, centres were scheduled to be open and ready by the fall, however, with everything taking longer these days, Usselman said the end of 2023 might be best case scenario.
Hiring, renovations, and partnerships will still remain on the list, beginning once a location has been found.
Regardless of the start date, however, Usselman is just excited to begin and knows how important the centre will be.
“I think the success that we’ve seen in other families or centers in the province has been wonderful, it just highlights the need to invest in your children and how that’s going to make a bigger impact in the future. So, we’re definitely excited to do this and provide more support for our families.”
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