Connections Family Centre completes renovations

The Connections Early Years Family Centre has completed a five-year plan to renovate their main entrance to provide better accessibility to local families and improve the energy efficiency of the building. 

Barbara Brown, Executive Director for the Centre, spoke about the “Building UP! project” and the challenges the Centre faced meeting their goal.

“It was part of our strategic plan to make this building accessible,” said Brown. “None of us believed we would be able to raise … $1.6 million dollars … it turned out to be $2.9.”

The Federal Government supported the renovation with just over $800,000 in grant money through the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) program.  

Brown went on to explain how much Covid affected their original plan. 

“I did not know in 2018 there would be a pandemic and an increase in costs … you know skyrocketing with everything,” said Brown. “Then all of the detail work that went into this elevator… was significant … but [the pandemic] never changed our plan.” 

Brown explained that projects were scaled down to minimize the amount of people needed based on mandates that restricted close contact. “Sometimes we would have one worker come in at a time, but it was like the little engine that could.”  

Renovations had been slated for completion in April, but had to pushed into June, then Sept. The new entrance, however, offers a much-improved for those needing accessibility options other than stairs, including a brand-new elevator allowing visitors to the Centre greater access to different floors. 

Connections offers a variety of support for families in their area.

Programs include “Talk 2 Me” offering support for children with speech and language development, the Infant Hearing Program providing hearing screening for infants in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent, and one program especially close to Brown’s heart: “Be Back Soon,” which offers on-site short-term childcare for low-income families for important appointments, job interviews, etc. 

“Not everybody has family that they can rely on, especially during the day,” said Brown. 

Brown explained the possibility of moving locations had come up as an alternative to large scale renovations, but that idea was discarded because “this is where we want to be.”

“We firmly believe healthy communities start with healthy families, and that’s what we’re about,”  said Brown.