The Clements Centre for Families is exploring the possibility of building a new child development centre in Duncan.
Dominic Rockall, CEO of the Clements Centre, a non-profit agency that provides programs and services for children and adults with development disabilities and their families, said the centre is currently in the "quiet phase" of determining the support in the community for a new state-of-the-art child development centre and have not yet launched a public fundraising campaign for the facility.
He said initial estimates have determined that a new centre, which would be constructed on property adjacent to the Clements Centre's headquarters on Clements Street, would cost approximately $10 million to construct.
Rockall said the demand for services at the centre has tripled over the past 10 years, and it now has a wait list of more than 300 children for its programs and services.
“We simply do not have the space to meet the rapidly rising need,” Rockall said.
He said because of the backlog many of these children will miss the window, from birth to five years of age, when therapies and other interventions can have maximal effect.
Rockall said the boost to early intervention therapies alone with a new child development centre would have a significant and positive impact on the local school system, and would improve lifelong outcomes for children and families in the Cowichan region.
The centre is hoping the province will agree to fund up to $8 million of the cost of the centre, and the plan is for local fundraising to come up with the rest.
The centre asked the Municipality of North Cowichan to provide a letter of support to the province for the funding, and council authorized Mayor Rob Douglas at its meeting on May 7 to provide the letter.
"First, we are seeking a pivotal financial commitment from the province," Rockall said.
"Our hope is that this project will be included [in the province’s] budget as early as the next fiscal year.”
To that end, Rockall said the Clements Centre is currently actively advocating for the new child development centre to local and senior levels of government and its allies in the community in order to demonstrate the seriousness of the need, the potential for an impactful solution, and the high level of support for it from key groups across the Cowichan region.
The Clements Centre has also recently partnered with the Duncan-based Parhar Group in a proposal to construct a five-storey, 28-unit affordable housing project at 2731 Vian St. that will cater mainly to adults with disabilities.
The partners intend to secure funding for the project through BC Housing’s Community Housing Fund.
North Cowichan council unanimously gave the first three readings to that project at its meeting on May 7.
