Windsor daycare revamps numbers

By Nadine Armstrong

The Hants Journal/NovaNewsNow.com

After a year spent drafting a request for funding from the Community Services Department, the Windsor Daycare has been informed its application was denied.

Windsor Daycare Society board past president Shelly Bibbi said the news came as a disappointment. “It’s unclear why the application was turned down,” she said. “We were told we asked for too much.”

This time around, the board has halved its funding request. “We’ve lowered our expectations.” Bibbi said. “What we’ve applied for is a 75 percent forgivable loan, so we still need to come up with the other 25 percent.” The new application will only request funding directly related to the building itself.

“We’ve had to cut out a lot of bells and whistles,” she said. “And even then we may not come in on budget.”

The centre has been in need of a new facility for years in order to expand operations. Although the current building meets safety standards, the former church is in need of costly repairs and updates. It was determined a new building was the only reasonable option.

Bibbi chairs the building committee and said they have had to update all the quotes and information from the original application. “Fortunately we’d been through it once, so this time it was a little easier. We’re conservatively hopeful.”

However, the daycare has not lowered its priorities for a new centre, which include accessibility and space for 100 new children, as well as infant care.

The current day care is licensed for 70 spaces and there are 66 seats taken, although not all of those children attend full time.

The Community Services Department subsidizes 36 of those seats.

Bibbi said those numbers don’t come close to meeting the needs of the community and that the daycare receives consistent requests for after school and infant care. “There is definitely a need for babies, but, right now, we can only take children 18 months and up. I’m not sure if the province understands how important a daycare is to infrastructure.”

At the May 26 town council meeting, a motion unanimously extended the arrangement to hold a section of surplus town land on Victoria Street until the end of this year, though a developer was looking at the same location. Coun. Liz Galbraith had said, “Windsor daycare’s space right now is just abysmal.”

The new application was submitted June 16 and Bibbi said they expect to have confirmation of funding by October, when the centre will also resume fundraising activities.