BREDENBURY — It’s not unusual to find multiple community facilities in one building in small towns – a school in Bredenbury once deserted for decades is home to a fire hall, day spa, fitness centre, Lions Club den – and on the other end of the hallway resides a cheerful daycare centre, with caregivers surrounded by small children and toys.
When the daycare first opened a year ago, the whole community pitched in – even those who don’t have children or live right in Bredenbury.
Donations like toys and loose parts from community members flooded in while the hopeful parents stepped up to help.
“We would get a handful of ladies from the community, they'd come, they were washing windows, washing walls… and they had no kids coming here,” recalled Naomi Walkington, who runs the daycare facility in Bredenbury, as she watched 35 children for around 30 families.
Because the daycare facility is attached to an older building, Walkington said, the town took out substantial loans to revamp the whole complex to cover the cost that went beyond the initial estimate.
Determined to help build a daycare in town, local farmers quickly gathered earlier this year on a parcel of land rented out by the town to seed, fertilize, harvest, and ship out. The ‘crops for kids’ will eventually help pay off some of the loans. The numbers, she said, are “outrageous.”
The amount of farmers that showed up to support us was “amazing,” the town administrator told Walkington after a recent meeting with the farmers.
Ten dollars a day for the parents, the federal affordable child care program saves Saskatchewan families up to $6,900 per year, per child, estimated the federal Ministry of Families, Children and Social Development.
Walkington said the facility has opened 13 more spots this year, now a total of 38 spots, which points to a definite need for child care in the rural areas.
On May 13 the federal government announced an additional fund of $27.7 million over four years, with $19.1 million through 2025–26 for Budget 2024, to help the province build 28,000 more child care spaces by March 2026.
“To build a fairer Canada for every generation,” the federal funds will help struggling families in rural areas and communities such as “racialized groups, Indigenous Peoples, newcomers, official language minority communities, and children, parents and employees with disabilities.” Some funding may also be used in providing care outside regular hours, writes the May 13 news release.
A new $1-billion Child Care Expansion Loan Program for new builds and renovations for both public and non-profit child care facilities is now in place to help speed up the process.
Research by Statistics Canada shows that every dollar directed towards early childhood education generates a return of between $1.50 and $2.80 for the broader economy, which will benefit all Canadians.
“We heard parents say there were not enough spaces, and we are stepping up to fill the gaps for public and non-profit child care providers… I think about how many doors this program will open for generations to come, for young people like my daughters and their peers,” said Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations in a press release.
Operating five days a week, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Walkington's daycare saves parents with long work commutes the hassle of travelling on the highways with their toddlers. Meanwhile, the service is slowly bringing some young families back to town.
Yet this has come a long way building trust for parents to feel comfortable enough and realize that their child is well looked-after in a loving and safe environment, Walkington said.
“How I run this (facility) is (based on) respect and open communication. I want them to be able to come to me and realize that there's no silly questions,” she said.
At the daycare, the children received by the daycare can range from as small as six weeks of age in the infant room, to six years of age until they graduate from kindergarten and are placed in the preschool room.
Still, with the separate rooms, Walkington said every day can be a challenge to keep all children entertained with activities tailored to their individual abilities with the evident gaps in early childhood development.
“The preschool room is the hardest because you have such a gap. So to try figuring out programming and activities that the two-and-a-half year old could do, as well as a kindergartener to not get bored … So you're kind of balancing and trying to figure that kind of stuff out.”
The skills required as a staff at the daycare can sometimes be more demanding than a school teacher to oversee a land of attention-seeking kids, Walkington said, which makes it harder to find qualified workers, especially in smaller communities.
“We're working your eight hour days, but it's almost like a teacher too. You have your planning, and you don't always get that planning time during the day,” she said. “You're dealing with children, sometimes you're in a good mood, sometimes they're not.”
Before she moved to Bredenbury, Walkington had her own daycare in Yorkton for 22 years accommodating 12 children to help families succeed and said she still isn't ready to let go of the children when they are off to school.
“But you know what, when you walk into the room, and a child gives you a hug,” she continued. “It makes everything better.”
“There's my children,” she said when looking at the picture on her office wall. “It was only supposed to be a temporary job until they started school and it just kept going… So my oldest was five when I became licensed and my youngest graduated. Then I took this job. My oldest just turned 30, my youngest is 19.”
As families have grown close to Walkington and the daycare’s workers, the community embraced the daycare and enjoyed the children’s energy. A family picnic will be held at the park next to the town office June 4 partnering with the local Lions Club to celebrate their one year anniversary.
“They [the children and their families] become part of your family,” she said.
On the day of the interview, Walkington was juggling food prep for children and some administrative paperwork.
“And there are times that you just got to leave your paperwork and go play with the kids, right?”
