Community
The important work that we do in the early years to educate our future leaders is vital for the successful future of our community. Before the age of 5, 85% of brain development occurs. This means the quality of a child’s experiences in the first few years of life is critical to their lifelong success.
This vital work couldn’t be done without the help of our partners and supporters. We have a community-based needs approach and work diligently in collaboration with our community tables. Over the past few years, the focus of this collaboration has been to connect and unite with our early years partners with aim to fill the gaps in our Central Okanagan community and avoid duplication of services.
Central Okanagan Early Years Partnership (COEYP)
The Central Okanagan Early Years Partnership is built on the knowledge that early child development sets the foundation for young children to grow to their fullest potential. We work to build a coordinated, effective, and inclusive community-driven system for the early years.
Our role is to raise awareness about the importance of the early years and leverage resources and partnerships to increase the collaboration of Early Years services.
Our vision is that “The Central Okanagan is the best community possible for all young children and their families.”
Childcare Council of Central Okanagan (CCofCO)
This program year, the focus of the Council was on networking and management training opportunities to connect the childcare sector’s resources to better support the childcare sector crisis with their struggle to staff newly created spaces. Part of the Council’s work focused on advocating for increased wages to Early Childhood Educators (ECEs). We were also excited to support the four Central Okanagan municipalities with their successful UMBC grant application to receive funding for a childcare needs assessment that will deliver an Action Plan to the municipalities upon completion of the research study in March 2020.
