Little Souls Daycare seeks children

Little Souls Daycare seeks children
by Pamela Cowen,
Leader Post

REGINA — Regina parents have a rare opportunity — if they act immediately.

The Little Souls Daycare could have as many as 30 child-care openings available when it opens at 1475 Athol Street on Monday, said Michelle Porter, executive director of the Souls Harbour Rescue Mission (SHRM).

But getting the word out to parents is frustrating Porter.

Despite many Regina daycares having lengthy waiting lists, Porter said their staff cannot share the names of families who are waiting for daycare spots because of privacy constraints.

"We have 60 spots in total," she said Thursday. "We take children for a day, we take part-timers and we take full-timers — we even take infants and there's a huge need in the city for infant care."

In July, the province gave $201,600 to Souls Harbour Rescue Mission — one of five Regina agencies that received government funding to set up daycares.

The funding followed the provincial government's promise in the 2009 budget to create 1,000 child-care spaces in Saskatchewan by the end of March 2010.

When the funding was announced, Porter said many people who attend SHRM programs had difficulty finding child care because some child-care centres had two-year waiting lists.

Although the licensed daycare is located in North Central, children of all ages from throughout the city are welcome to attend and Porter emphasized the Little Souls Daycare is not an outreach program for poor families.

"Everyone is going to be a paying customer — but some may require subsidies; it just depends on your income level," Porter said.

She said the Athol Street daycare's rates are on par with what is charged in the city's other daycare centres and the 10 staff members are fully certified in Early Childhood Education.

The daycare's rates range from $425 a month for after-school care to $750 a month for infants.

"It's an open concept daycare so what that means is that we don't have a room for every age group — we're mingling them so that it's more family oriented," Porter said. "All of the food is cooked onsite and (the building) is handicapped-accessible."

She's delighted a 25-foot tipi will be erected permanently in the middle of the 10,000-square-foot daycare.

"This will divide the space into quarters," she said. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

Parents interested in learning more can call the daycare director, Mandy Bull, at 543-0011.

"The places are open immediately," Porter said. "We're ready when they are."