The New Horizons Society of Autism and Special Needs is looking to put a childcare centre in the Elks Hall.
The society is looking to renovate the lower level of the Elks Hall and turn it into a five-room daycare with an afterschool program upstairs and make an accessible and interactive playground and garden area will be created in the larger parking lot of the Hall.
Funding for the Hall is being sought through a Childcare BC New Spaces Funding grant to assist with the renovation cost of the lower level of the Hall and the playground.
“We had 39 children on the day that we opened October; we now have 151 clients,” Crystal Turatus, with the New Horizons Society for Autism & Special Need said.
50% of the spaces will be reserved for children with Autism and Special Needs, as current childcare facilities in Williams Lake do not have comprehensive programs or trained staff for Children Requiring Extra Support. 50% of the spaces will be for non-special needs children to encourage and nurture inclusiveness and understanding, and 25% of the overall spaces will be reserved for children of employees of the Elks & Royal Purple Childcare & Learning Centre and New Horizons Society for Autism & Special Needs, and parents enrolled in either on-line or in-person Early Childhood Educator or Behavioural Interventionist programs.
The City of Williams Lake joined the Cariboo Regional District, Autism BC and Williams Lake First Nation in providing a letter of support for the society.