Glimmer of hope for YMCA daycare, town hall Saturday

The Sault YMCA reached out to its daycare clients by email today to inform them that a brief extension of services is planned until at least the end of June.

Although termination notices were sent to daycare workers on April 16, Sault Y spokesperson Don Ferguson said on Wednesday the goal was always for a continuation of service for childcare.

The Y leadership has been working with the District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board (DSSAB), which funds licenced daycare in the city, on a plan for the 541 spaces it currently operates across eight sites.

"The YMCA continues to work diligently with DSAAB to arrive at a solution that would allow service continuation of childcare until the end of June, at minimum," said Ferguson.

The main Y building at 235 McNabb St. is still scheduled to be closed in mid-May, he said.

"All funding partners and community providers involved in the planning and solution-finding understand that plans to transfer children at the main YMCA site to childcare sites with available spaces needs to be considered in the final solution," he said.

In an interview on Tuesday, DSSAB CEO Mike Nadeau said he was hoping for more time to be able to create a transition plan for the spaces currently operated by the Y to other providers, if it goes through with its plan to exit the daycare business.

"As the funder, we will commit to making sure that we can continue to fund the YMCA for daycare operations for the duration that they are in the daycare operation," said Nadeau. "If they vacate that space, we will seek an alternative solution or provider to ensure that those daycare spaces exist within the system."

The Sault Y currently operates eight daycare centres in the city, including the one in its main McNabb Street building. The remaining school sites include Riverview, Boreal, Tarentorus, Isabel Fletcher, Our Lady of Lourdes, Holy Family and St. Mary’s.

Nadeau noted the McNabb site will likely close, but the seven satellite daycare sites operated by the YMCA are in schools that have existing infrastructure and may be more attractive to an organization looking to take them over. 

It was also announced today that a town hall meeting is scheduled to take place Saturday at the Machine Shop from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

"Let's come together to discuss what the YMCA means to each of us and our plans for advocating to save it," said an invitation posted on the Save our YMCA Facebook group.