An Indigenous-focused, trauma-informed daycare in Colwood will allow young children to reconnect with their culture.
“We want to help people heal and be proud of who they are,” said Kendra Gage, Hulitan Family and Community Services Society Executive Director.
There has been a lot of trauma for the Indigenous communities in Canada, with colonization and residential schools being front of mind for many, said Gage.
A trauma-informed approach to daycare means it will operate differently from a traditional daycare and will not include timeouts or set sleep schedules.
“The idea is allowing the child to learn things on their time,” Gage said.
The facility is being supported through Aboriginal Headstart, and The 48 spaces provided will be fully funded, allowing the centre to have a higher staff-to-child ratio.
“It allows us to be more trauma-informed because instead of asking kids to take timeouts, we have people that can do time-ins who can sit with them.”
The facility will emphasize connecting with culture, focusing on education from an Indigenous worldview, considering sustainability, and encouraging drumming and dancing.
“Children that know who they are, and where they come from, and have a sense of belonging tend to grow healthier and happier,” said Gage.
The construction is scheduled to be finished in May, and the centre will be open in September.
It will be available to families using the childcare spaces, support workers, and therapists. So it’s a wraparound service.”
United Way South Vancouver Island (UWSVI) supports the Hulitan Daycare Centre and is trying to raise an extra $600,000 for books, toys and indigenous educational resources, said Erika Stenson, UWSVI’s Executive Director.
“The centre will allow the children to see themselves reflected in the space around them and support their positive sense of culture,” said Stenson.
The daycare will be exclusively for Indigenous children and their parent’s services, said Stenson.
“This isn’t about discluding anybody. This is about the statement ‘Every Child Matters.’ These children deserve to understand who they are in a safe environment.”
“This centre is specifically for a group of young children with different needs, and attention will be given to a group that has suffered so much, said Stenson.
“I fully believe that every child matters and that we need to give the people in our community the chance to dream big.”
Gage showed the Goldstream Gazette around the building, which is still under construction, where there has been a big emphasis on indigenous culture.
All construction crew members are vetted to ensure they know about Indigenous customs and protocols and ensure that the building is made in a good way.
“One of the questions I had asked was what is your commitment to truth and reconciliation, and these guys were so generous with their answers. It is the reason I hired them.”
There will be ample outdoor space with a rain garden that uses runoff water from the roof and storms to feed a garden that will help teach children how to be self-sufficient.
The centre will sit on the traditional lands of Lekwungen-speaking people. It will have 24 spaces for infants and toddlers and 24 for 3-to 5-year-olds.
The resources needed for the centre have not been a problem to source, and people in places like Vancouver have been supplying toys and other materials, according to Gage.
Not every child that comes to the centre will have an experience of trauma, said Gage, but there would still be a concerted effort not to traumatize kids in their care.
“We don’t want them to experience not experienced trauma from being in childcare.”
The children at the centre will learn to care about one another, and those who will be responsible for caring for other kids will learn how to do so in the Indigenous worldview.
“In a colonial worldview, We talk about rights, and in the Indigenous worldview, we talk about responsibility.”
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