Child Development Centre Still Going Strong After 50 Years Of Service To The Community

Since 1974 the Cariboo Chilcotin Child Development Centre has been meeting the needs of families and children from Williams Lake and beyond.

Now celebrating their 50th Anniversary Executive Director Vanessa Riplinger said they have gotten a whole lot busier than when they started all those years ago.

Riplinger said last year the Child Development Centre served at least three thousand clients, which doesn’t include the group services they offer in house.

“And that’s not including our Groups, those are kids, youth, and families coming in our door. That’s not also including the Cariboo Chilcotin Foundry which is also part of the Child Development Centre. The Foundry has been open now for almost a year and they served probably close to a thousand as well.”

Riplinger has been with the Child Development Centre for 27-years now and said they are passionate about their community, ensuring that they can provide even more services for the growing needs of families and children from 100 Mile House to all of the Cariboo Chilcotin.

“I was in High School when I volunteered at the CDC,” Riplinger recalled, “and I thought this is the place I want to work. I didn’t know how I was going to get here because I was in High School. I volunteered for their Horsing Around Program that run down at the Stampede Grounds and I also volunteered in the Shwim Program for a little while. I went away, went to school and did my thing, came back, then over time ended up working here.”

Riplinger noted since the Child Development Centre’s humble bveginnings, the need for their services has grown immensely by 200 percent and that COVID not only changed the world, her organization also saw a huge increase in the amount of kids coming through their door.

“We had to pivot and provide service a bit differently and really try to figure out how do we do more. We got the Foundry that has really helped that 12 to 24 age group providing services with a Doctor and Counsellors, and peer support, and other Community Partners coming in providing services outside the Foundry which has been amazing.”

The Child Development Centre started back in 1974 offering physio-therapy and a Day Care within the old arena where the 7-11 is now on Proctor Street in Williams Lake, and Riplinger said she can’t wait to see what the next 50-years will bring.