Village Vibe
news and views from the heart of Fernwood
www.fernwoodneighbourhood.ca
january 2006
Council Sets City Staff to Work on Fernwood Childcare Expansion
Executive Director Roberta Martell and members of the board attended City Council committee of the whole meeting December 15. The team requested Council’s guidance with regard to the recent announcement by the Ministry of Children and Families (MCFD) that “it would provide up to $500,000 to support the creation of new licensed group non-profit child care spaces for children under age 6 in areas of high need.” Fernwood was identified as such an area. The question on the table: Should the Society apply for the MCFD funds and renovate the cityowned Centre itself to create new and much-needed childcare
spaces or should it invest in a new property somewhere in the neighbourhood for this purpose? A plan to renovate the Centre was drawn up in 2002 by architect Shiv Garyali and included a seismic upgrade, the addition of a second floor gym, and the provision of more space for childcare. Council set city staff to work investigating the increased costs of the Garyali plan given the rise in construction costs over the past three years. The Society anxiously awaits an answer from the City in early January. Applications are due to the MCFD by the end of the month.
Fernwood kids in action at the sandbox. Fernwood has been identified by the province as a “priority community” for the creation of new childcare spaces.
Meet the NRG Board of Directors
Lee Herrin has served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Fernwood Community Centre Society for six years. Government employee by day, in the evenings and on weekends Lee can often be Lee Herrin seen in a striped shirt and blue Chair beanie cap working tirelessly on neighbourhood initiatives. When not attending numerous meetings he can be found on what he calls his “urban homestead” tending to his chickens and vast vegetable garden.
Lisa has been a Fernwood resident for some three years now, and since she’s been here, hasn’t looked back down the hill towards Fairfield. Not even once. She can be spotted most often darting around the city by bicycle. An advocate of and activist for social justice, Lisa is concerned with creating city and Lisa Helps neighbourhood spaces that are open, inclusive, inspiring, engaging, and, of course, Vice Chair fun. Currently on a temporary hiatus from Fernwood (but tapped in via conference call and email) Lisa is pursuing a Ph.D in History at the University of Toronto where she is doing research on homelessness on the west coast of Canada and the US over the course of the twentieth century. She is also your faithful editor of the Village Vibe.