Kids at the Edmonton Garrison have a new after-school playroom thanks to a grant from the province.
Troops, reporters and kindergarteners squeezed into Guthrie School's new playroom last Friday to check out the newest addition to the base's daycare program: a 960-sq.-ft. portable full of games and toys. The new portable was built with the help of the Sturgeon School Division and a $400,000 grant from the province. It will provide after-school care for kindergarteners.
This is part of the province's $4-million effort to create about 3,200 new child-care spaces in the Edmonton region by 2011, said Jeff Johnson, MLA for Athabasca-Redwater. "It's one small thing we can do to help our military families in this province."
Great need
The new portable will provide after-school care for about 20 kindergarteners as of this month, says Roza Parlin, executive director of the Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC). This is in addition to the 48 new child-care spots created at the school last September for Grades 1 to 6, which were also funded by the province.
There's a pressing need for these spots on the base, said Kaetlyn Corbould, chair of the MFRC, as they have just 82 day care spots available. "This program is licensed for 20 children and we have 350 on our waiting list."
The base has a very transient population, said base commander Lt.-Col. Tom Bradley, many of whom need day care for their kids. Families typically wait up to two years now for a space to open up. "To have a two-year waiting list when you have a lot of people deployed on operations internationally and domestically — that puts stress on families."
This facility would free up spaces in the base's daycare for other kids, Bradley said, reducing wait times. There's demand everywhere in the province for day care, he continued, and he's grateful for the province's support. "There's no better province to be a soldier than Alberta."
Day care on the base costs about $590 a month, Parlin said. For details on the new after-school program, call the MFRC at 780-973-4011, ext. 6300.
