WELLINGTON COUNTY – The County of Wellington has partnered with the YM-YWCA of Guelph to provide emergency child care spaces at the Kensington Y Child Care Centre.
The centre will open on May 4 and provide 20 spaces for children up to 12 years of age.
In a May 1 press release, county officials stated they are working with the Ministry of Education to provide child care to local health care/frontline workers at no cost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The county would like to thank the YM-YWCA of Guelph for opening their Kensington Y Child Care Centre to provide these much needed emergency child care spaces,” said Luisa Artuso, director of the County’s Children’s Early Years Division.
“Currently, there is a waiting list of over 300 children in Guelph and Wellington County. We expect that number to significantly increase with the recent provincial announcement expanding the list of eligible workers.
“These 20 spaces will help a lot of families who are providing critical services in our community.”
The county has worked with Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health to develop policies and procedures to help limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus, officials say.
“The Guelph Y is grateful for the opportunity to continue supporting our community by opening up these spaces,” said Geoff Vogt, CEO YMCA-YWCA of Guelph.
“This is such a challenging time for our community and our country, and we are honoured to support the families that are on the front lines fighting this virus. We are also grateful to our staff for stepping up and making themselves available.”
The county continues to recruit child care providers to offer care in their own homes or the homes of essential workers. Interested providers can visit www.wellington.ca/emergencychildcare.
