Chase, B.C., charity secures funding to pay for childhood educator training

A charity in Chase, B.C., has secured funding that it hopes will improve child-care services in the community by training new childhood educators.

Chase and Area Family Services acquired funding to pay for the training and associated supports needed for 14 people to complete the early childhood education basic certificate program through the Pacific Rim College Early Childhood Institute. The one-year program will begin on Feb. 1. 

“Chase is not unique in a fairly severe lack of child-care options,” said Ashton Sweetnam, executive director of Chase and Area Family Services.

“It is a national crisis.”

She said many of the child-care centres in Chase are not able to operate at full capacity due to a lack of staff, leaving many local families on waitlists and without daycare options.

She said Chase is often perceived as a “bedroom community,” since many residents commute into Kamloops and Salmon Arm for work. Because of this, she said, it is also expected that people will travel for services like child care and the municipality can be overlooked when it comes to social services funding.

Sweetnam said due to long waitlists and high child-care costs, some parents – particularly young mothers – have been unable to re-enter the workforce. Others have to drive long distances to access child care before and after work.

“I feel like trying to get back into the workforce, I've been just going around in circles,” said Cavelle McGee, a stay-at-home mom of three in Chase who was awarded a grant to complete the early childhood educator program.

“In order to go to work, you need child care. In order to have child care, you need to work to pay for that child care."

She said her two young children, like many kids in Chase, are on waitlists for daycares that are not able to operate at full capacity due to a staffing shortage. 

The courses for the condensed, one-year program can be completed virtually from home. Sweetnam said for the practicums, students who are parents will be matched to locations that can accommodate their kids, alleviating the strain of needing to find child care while in the program. 

McGee said she is looking forward to helping other parents get back to work, something that she struggled with for years.

She said, so far, she feels the program is a good fit. 

“It helps with child care. It helps me upgrade some of my education and it's helping me find not just a job, but something that I can make into more of a career that's long lasting.”