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Opinions needed on childcare in the Elk Valley
Whether you are a parent, grandparent, employer or childcare provider, you are asked to complete a survey on how you are affected by the availability of childcare in the Elk Valley.
The extensive survey is being carried out by the Elk Valley Child Care Advisory Initiative (EVCCAI), a group that aims to understand childcare availability, affordability, and accessibility in Elkford, Sparwood, and Fernie.
The EVCCAI and the Elkford Women’s Task Force (EWTF) obtained funding from the Columbia Basin Trust to hire an experienced consultant to conduct this survey, which runs until July 5.
The results will be presented in the fall, and will include recommendations for short-term and long-term strategies to deal with the barriers and opportunities presented by the current childcare needs.
Sharon Strom, of EVCCAI said: “We want to paint a picture of the current child care situation, and understand if child care issues create barriers to employment in the Elk Valley, and how our communities can work together to resolve them.”
Kim Bauer of EWTF added: “Availability, affordability and accessibility of child care affect people from all parts of our community – not just parents. We would like to hear from grandparents, other family members, employers and friends – anyone whose life is affected in any way by the local child care situation.”
Surveys must be filled out by July 5 and will take between five to 25 minutes to complete, depending how much detail is given.
Complete the survey online at www.evcnpvoice.com
Paper copies are available at the College of the Rockies, Fernie; Fernie Heritage Library; Sparwood Rec Centre; Sparwood Library; Elkford Aquatic Centre; Elkford Library and Elkford Community and Conference Centre.
Above photo: Sharon Strom of the Elk Valley Childcare Advisory Initiative met with moms and babies from the Fernie Bellies to Babies group at Fernie Women’s Resource Centre to discuss the survey on Elk Valley child care. The survey runs until July 5 and is open to anyone affected by availability of childcare.
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