Queensborough Community Centre child care centre opens in New Westminster
The recently renovated Queensborough YMCA Kids Club child care centre is now offering 24 licensed spaces for school-aged children in a facility conveniently located across the street from Queen Elizabeth Elementary School.
“This new child care centre aligns with our commitment to create access to quality, inclusive child care for families who need it,” said Grace Lore, Minister of State for Child Care. “With before- and after-school child care right across the street from the school grounds, parents and guardians have less to worry about during their busy days.”
The city received $47,600 through the Province’s ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund to upgrade the washrooms, furnishings and equipment in the Queensborough Community Centre to be able to offer child care onsite.
“With the addition of the Queensborough YMCA Kids Club, our YMCA now provides more than 2,100 school-aged children and their families with valuable child care services,” said Heidi Worthington, president and CEO, YMCA BC. “We are fortunate to have such a dedicated team of child care educators at the Y, and I know they are looking forward to providing the children at this new program with a welcoming and inclusive environment where they can connect with their peers and enjoy many happy, healthy experiences.”
The YMCA BC’s Greater Vancouver Region operates this child care centre and is partnering with Kinsight supported child development program to serve children with additional support needs.
“Thank you for starting this before- and after-school program,” said Sandeep Kaur, parent of a child attending Queensborough YMCA Kids Club. “As parents struggling with work and helping with school stuff, I have been wishing for help and am more relaxed now. The teachers are very kind and helpful and my daughter is extremely happy. Thank you to everyone who manages this program.”
Since 2018, through the ChildCareBC accelerated space-creation programs, more than 33,000 new child care spaces have been funded, with more than 15,000 of these spaces now available to children and their families. Of these newly operational spaces, more than 210 are in the New Westminster area.
The governments of B.C. and Canada are investing nearly $300 million to fund the creation of new licensed child care spaces in high-need areas throughout B.C. Applications are still being accepted for the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund from public and not-for-profit child care providers, and Indigenous governments and will do so until there is no more budget available.
Quote:
Patrick Johnstone, mayor, New Westminster –
“Child care is an ongoing need in our growing city, but this need is especially urgent in the Queensborough neighbourhood, which is the least-resourced area of the city for school-aged care. The City of New Westminster thanks the Province of B.C. for its funding contribution that helped create these much-needed, affordable, non-profit child care spaces.”
Learn More:
For information about the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund, visit: https://gov.bc.ca/childcare/newspacesfund
For information about ChildCareBC, visit: https://gov.bc.ca/childcare
For families interested in learning more about the program, visit: https://onehsn.com/ymcagv/ux_2_0