Youth Center, Daycare Taking Steps to Protect Kids and Staff Amid COVID-19
Written by Paul Graif on 11 April 2020
At the Kahnawake Youth Center (KYC), the first of three daily cleaning crews starts disinfecting at 3 a.m. to make sure the center is ready to receive the children of essential, front-line workers.
In a community address on Saturday, KYC director Kyle Zacharie said it’s a “team effort” with the Kahnawake Education Centre and the Kahnawake Shakotiia’takenhas Community Services (KSCS) staff pitching in to make sure the services are available.
The center is following directives from the Kahnawake task force as well as the province. “We’re doing everything we can to keep everybody safe,” said Zacharie.
Meanwhile, over at the Step by Step Child and Family Center, daily traffic has reduced by around 90 per cent, according to the centre’s executive director, Natalie Beauvais.
Like the KYC, Step by Step is providing emergency daycare services to front-line, essential workers.
“It’s been going on for four weeks now that we’ve been doing this special emergency childcare,” said Beauvais. “We average between zero and ten children per day.”
Beauvais said the centre has implemented strict measures to ensure there is no transmission. The centre has halted classroom visits, now requiring all visitors to stop at reception, and is operating with a skeleton staff.
Classroom sizes have been capped at 4-6 children per educator and children are no longer going for outdoor walks in the community, instead remaining on the centre’s property. Fewer toys are present in classrooms, and the ones that remain are disinfected daily.
Beauvais said staff are not wearing Personal Protective Equipment at this time since it has not been mandated by the province.
“We put our best foot forward and sometimes we have to reflect on the decisions we’ve made,” said Beauvais. “By consulting with others then we’re able to move forward. At the end of the day, we are all here for the best interests of everyone within our community.”
