In around a couple of weeks from now, a grand opening ceremony will be held in the community of Houston to celebrate the opening of two new spaces that are meant to be used by children, families and the community.
CFTK-TV recently spoke with Celeste Hayward, the Executive Director of the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, who gave some more insight into the differences between these buildings and what purpose they’ll serve in addition to talking about a couple of other new buildings in the community;
“First, they have what I believe is a 42 unit building that’s being built to serve what the community and Indigenous population in Houston needs. They are also opening up a daycare that’s going to have spots for youth, children and infants. The Daycare has been built to look like a lodge, it’s unbelievably beautiful with art that’s been brought in by the community and painted on the walls. They’ve really thought through that cultural connection and supportive space. Then right behind the daycare is the building with the 42 units in it. I think that Houston really needs this and on top of that, they also built a friendship centre there, which is an arm of the Dze L K’ant Friendship Centre in Smithers. They’ve built this amazing building to serve the community with all the services that they have. It’s very distinctive with huge salmon murals painted on the side and I think it’s such a great example of what we can do in these communities as friendship centres.”
To specifically focus on the new childcare centre, it is approximately 3,600 square feet in size, is licensed for up to 37 childcare spaces, it’s being run by the Dze L K’ant Friendship Centre and is being called the Friendship Centre Cub House.
Various Early Years programs and family supports will be offered through the centre and the Friendship Centre is working with local partners to support Early Childhood Educator training and recruitment for the centre.
This new centre was made possible in part because of funding from the Aboriginal Head Start Association of British Columbia and will also make sure that Indigenous culture is weaved into the kid’s everyday experiences.