(Town of Wadena/Facebook)

By Rachel May

New Daycare

New Wadena childcare centre set to open in coming weeks

May 16, 2023 | 8:00 AM

A new daycare centre in Wadena is expected to provide a much-needed boost to the community.

The Wadena Community Childcare Centre is getting ready to open its doors on Jun. 5.

Director Nicole Coburn told northeastNOW that although the end is in sight, it has been in the works for a while now.

“I was looking back at the paperwork. They started the process like four or five years ago. They were applying and seeing what they needed to do to become licensed,” she said.

The centre boasts 35 licensed childcare spots with all of the positions currently filled, but parents and caregivers are invited to put their names on the waitlist.

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On opening day, there will be two educators in addition to Coburn.

“When we open, we start off with about half of our children who have accepted positions.”

The rest of the children and faculty will join the centre in July.

As the centre is licensed through the government, Coburn explains they have been approved for the Saskatchewan parent fee reduction grant.

“So what that means is that any child under the age of six is only ever going to have to pay $217.50 for their child care.”

Those with the centre have spent over a year fundraising to help build inviting space for new families. Most notably they raised over $30,000 during a steak and auction night.

“They put in a ton of work,” Coburn said. “Oodles and oodles of fundraisers and they worked their booties off to get us to where we are today.”

There is currently a before and after-school program offered at Wadena elementary school which isn’t part of the centre’s licensing, however, Coburn is hoping to see it continue.

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Rachel.May@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RachelMayFM