Little Ferns was built entirely from a Provincial grant from the Ministry of Children and Family Development, support in kind from School District #68 and V.I.H.A. and the partnership of the Early Years Coordinator of SD# 68, Elizabeth Pennell, and Amy Collum, Executive Director of The Ferns Association for Young Children and Families. The Society gratefully acknowledges the ongoing financial support of our community M.C.F.D. , SD# 68 and the B.C. Direct Access Grants.
Early Learning/Childcare Programs for infants, toddlers and preschoolers
Young Parent Program
Grandmas and Grandpas Club
Community Early Years and Parenting Programs
The Ferns Association for Young Children and Families
The Ferns Association for Young Children and Families believes that societies grow best when the youngest and oldest, most fragile and most strong come together in caring relationships. Little Ferns Early Learning Centre provides teen parents the right to graduate, seniors the right to participate and infants, toddlers and preschoolers the right to grow and learn.
The purposes of the Society are:
- To established an early learning/childcare facility for children ages birth through kindergarten, with special attention given to teen parents, with the inclusion of a Young Parent Program as a component of such facility.
- To work in collaboration and cooperation with the neighboring communities to meet the needs of families with young children through services and resources that are centralized through a early learning/childcare facility.
- To offer the families and staff, including early
childhood educators, and the community it serves, the facilities for observation, training and other such programs and initiatives that meet the society’s purposes. - To work in partnership with seniors, as mentors to the families and staff of the early learning centre as Intergenerational Programming.
The Board
The Board of Directors of the Society meets monthly at Little Ferns Early Learning Centre, usually the last Tuesday of the month at 6:00 pm. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is held in the Fall. New Directors are elected and the year’s budget approved and special events reviewed.
The Board consists of 7 positions of two year terms:
- President/Chair
- Treasurer
- Secretary
- Special Events and Fundraising Director
- Communications Director
- 2- Members-at-Large ( non-voting)
- And the Executive Director (non-voting) of the various
Society Programs and the Early Learning Centre
The membership of the Board includes up to 2 parents/family members of children of Little Ferns Early Learning Centre.