We've been robbed!

Now that I've wooed you with adorable pictures of sleeping babies, I want to thank you for providing them with toys to play with when they are awake! Our January Toy Drive was a great success and we have been able to outfit Little Souls Daycare with so many wonderful things for the kids to do!

I will admit one setback, though, and that was a robbery we had recently. Some of you brought toys over to our 24 hour location, and they were moved to our church basement for storage until transport. This is the Good News Chapel and Hall, which is available to groups for rentals for weddings and other occasions.

We had a group rent the facility on the weekend, and they took our toys!

I was SHOCKED! Who steals toys from a rescue mission??!!

There was some other things they took, and some damage caused to the property, which Pastor Ken spent an afternoon repairing.

All this to say, if you could find it in your heart to take one more pass at your kids' toys, and bring us gently used toys that we could use to outfit Little Souls Daycare, as well as our Emergency Family Shelters, I would consider it a personal favour.

Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children." -Luke 18:16

My favourite time of day: NAPTIME!

Well, I needed to lift my spirits so I went next door to our Little Souls Daycare, where the staff and children are always smiling. Then I spotted it: about a dozen babies sprawled out on the floor with their sleeping buddies. Nikki tells me they couldn't even stay up for the story this afternoon. They all zonked out before the story started!

Here's the first girl that caught my eye. So angelic, don't you think?!


Then I stood back and saw the whole scene. Here they are, during my favourite time of the day. No screaming or music blaring, just some zzzzz's. This is the story/reading quadrant, where the little ones like to cozy up together to sleep.


I wanted to call this one three pigs in a blanket but I wondered if the parents would take issue with that. But aren't they so cute?! Little triplet sleeping buddies!


This is one of our 9 infants; they are too young for mat sleeping. I went into the baby room and no sooner did I open the door did one of them start wailing, at which point I slunk out. Daycare Director Mandy caught me red-handed, though, and said next time she's going to put that on video! Yes, that's right. I, Michelle Porter, scare little children. Be afraid. Be very afraid.


I came back to the office and told my executive team that if they ever wanted to cure a bad mood, they should check out Little Souls Daycare during naptime. Aaron, our Junior Executive in Training (JET) got a hold of his little buddy who decided he wanted to skip naptime. He was in his crib beating on the side door!

Please Come to our Little Souls Daycare Indoor Picnic Grand Opening Tomorrow Morning!

Come join us for an Indoor Picnic as we celebrate the
Grand Opening of “Little Souls Daycare.”


Friday, January 29, 2010
10:00 a.m.
1475 Athol Street*, Regina, SK


You are invited to the official opening of Little Souls Daycare; a new ministry of Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission. Little Souls Daycare will begin operating on Feb 1, 2010, with 60 subsidized placements available to the public. The morning’s agenda will include dignitaries, a cake cutting ceremony at 10:00 a.m., and a “piñata” and hotdog lunch at 11:00 a.m.

Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission thanks the following partners:

• Government of Saskatchewan
• Affinity Credit Union and personnel including: the Board of Directors, Rich Harries (Community Development Manager) and Kevin Haas (Scarth Street Branch Manager)
• Rona Home & Garden (daycare kitchen donation)
• Elision Technologies (project management)
• Rev Ken & Michelle Porter, Founding Directors, Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission


* Corner of Dewdney Avenue & Athol Street


For information call Joseph Miller 501-7270

Media Release: Little Souls Daycare Grand Opening & Indoor Picnic

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR Friday, January 29th, 2010 10:00 a.m.
CONTACT: Michelle Porter
PHONE: 543-0011

Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission, in partnership with the Government of Saskatchewan & AFFINITY CREDIT UNION presents the Grand Opening of Little Souls Daycare!

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Join parents, children, & friends for an indoor picnic as we dedicate Little Souls Daycare!

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WHAT: This is the official opening of the brand new, Little Souls Daycare: a 60 placement subsidized daycare. The morning’s agenda will include a variety of guest dignitaries, a cake cutting ceremony, a “pinata,” and a hotdog lunch to follow.

WHO: This event is open to all media, the families of Little Souls Daycare, all project relevant trades people, and the public in general.

WHEN: Friday, January 29th, 2010 – 10:00 am
(Media can arrive at 9:40 am for early interviews with families and 10 new daycare staff members.)

WHERE: 1475 Athol Street, Regina, Saskatchewan
(Corner of Dewdney Avenue & Athol Street)

WHY: Little Souls Daycare is the end product of a collective vision, through the partnering of government, foundations, organizations, and numerous individuals, to address the need for subsidized daycare here in the City of Regina.

PHOTO/INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:

• 9:40 am – Little Souls Daycare is open, children will be playing and parents will be available for interview opportunities.
• Honourable Ken Krawetz, Minister of Education, speaking at 10:00 am
• Affinity Credit Union personal will be preparing and serving the early lunch.
• Rev Ken & Michelle Porter, Founding Directors and visionaries of Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission, can talk about the continuum of care that the Mission provides to Regina’s less fortunate.

Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission is celebrating it’s 20th year of operation, and is an amalgamation of Souls Harbour Soup Kitchen, and Regina RESCUE. We offer a full continuum of care through 7 different facilities, providing food, clothing and shelter, life changing programs, subsidized daycare and the Gospel Message to those in need.

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Snow Day!

RIGHT: A man and woman are snowblowing my street this morning! How generous is that?!

There is usually at least one blizzard a year that keeps half the staff from being able to go to work. Today is the day. The timing, of course, is never great. This Friday is our Grand Opening Celebration at our brand new Little Souls Daycare, and we are nowhere near ready. We need to hire workers, fill children's slots, & finish assembling the furniture & play structures. All those last minute details, added onto one snow day, means some late nights for us as staff later in the week!

Rebecca, our LifeChange Program Manager, declared it a SNOW DAY for the 30+ residents at the campus. While Jack and Paula enjoy a month in Florida, Becca is also campus manager, which means looking after details for the 2 buildings which house our program, administrative teams, & Good News Chapel. Oh, and while Erin is enjoying beautiful BC, Becca is also the Women & Family Home resident manager. Yup. That's right. Three hats and a blizzard.

Aaron, our Emergency Services Manager, is making sure all 300 meals get served today. We normally cook all our food, banquet style, at the Soup Kitchen, and transport it to several facilities. Today the van has been decommissioned, so each location is responsible for their own cooking. It is Aaron's job to coordinate that.

Several staff are snowed in, including Mandy, our Little Souls Daycare Director. Today, she is working from home, recruiting & interviewing potential staff, informing folks of our 30 available licensed daycare slots, & preparing a to do list for us so we can all make the rest of the week smoother and ready for our grand opening on Friday, and our first day of kids next Monday!

This morning Mandy spoke on The Dog's Breakfast to promote our January Toy Drive. Brad Grass said that now they know she lives two blocks away they might call her in on a moment's notice for any storm stayed guests who can't make it this week!

We're thankful for some staff who live within walking distance who have saved the day: Rebecca, Rae, & Ruby, for instance! Others are not so lucky. While representing us at a missions conference at Millar College of the Bible, Intern Stephanie and LifeChange Program Intern, Theresa, have been storm stayed! Donovan, in charge of all construction on the St. Andrews project for our daycare and youth centre, got a flat tire this morning, and Derrick, who is the only office staff not storm stayed, has to go to emergency for a bout of gout! When it rains, it pours. When it snows, it blizzards!

Most of all, please remember the homeless in your prayers at this time. Our January Cold Weather Shelter appeal is out and we are asking for a generous financial response. We turn no one away this time of year, as the consequences can be fatal. Our Mens & Womens Emergency Shelters house singles, families and children who would otherwise be sleeping in cars or who knows where. And please don't forget to make an extra donation to help Haiti, via the relief organization of your choice. They're fate is far worse than a winter storm.

The Dream of Little Souls Daycare

Today Derrick gave a tour to a group of Alliance women from across Saskatchewan and Manitoba. When they came to our new facility, the old St. Andrews United Church, I had a chance to talk and laugh with them. They easily caught our passion about the expansion into prevention through daycare and a youth centre. I must admit, it is pretty contagious when you see everything developing right before your eyes! When we entered into the Little Souls Daycare area, we greeted a group from Nipiwin Bible College , who were working to construct all the tiny toys and equipment needed to get a daycare started!
The concept for the Little Souls Daycare is a safe, fun place to spend the day away from home. It's an open plan floor design, divided into quadrants, where children of all ages can run freely and interact with one another.Quadrant 1: Indoor Playground
This is where the indoor play structures live, the make-believe furniture for dolls -- pretend kitchen, cradle, etc - and the dress-up costume area is. Kids get to run free and be rambunctious here.

Quadrant 2: Sensory Area
This is where kids can play on water and sand tables, learn through touch and be messy, as kids love to be! This is also our music central station, where kids can express themselves through love of music and song!

Quadrant 3: Eating & Craft Area
This is where the kids can gear down and work on crafts, finger painting, puzzles and of course, eat their lunch and two snacks a day! We developed our menu today, and on it is healthy foods using whole grains and a lot of fruit.

Quadrant 4: Quiet Area
This is where the TV and books reside. Think of it a giant living room. We'll keep quiet moving pictures on the TV, such as animals or scenery, have special movie times, (Yay, Veggie Tales!) and, for the most part, kids will use this area to rest and read. It's a no talking zone because it's right next to the bonus quadrant--

Quadrant 5: Baby Area
We have room for 6 infants, and their sleeping quarters and baby paraphernalia are located in the far back room. This is where the change tables are, and the rocking chairs for putting baby to sleep or giving baby a bottle.

Please join us at 10:00 am on Friday, January 29th, for our grand opening celebration and indoor picnic. Bring your children as our our brand new licenced daycare staff will be out in full force to provide childcare! Instead of a ribbon cutting, we're doing a pinata breaking! All are welcome to attend.

The January Toy Drive has been kicked off, and we have expanded it to include basic craft supplies, so clean out your cupboards! We need rice, macaroni, buttons, tape, scissors, bits of cloth, string, wool... you name it, we need it!

We are still hiring a few more staff, so if you have a love for the Lord and for children, please call Mandy Bull at 543-0011. She'll let you know how you can apply to join our missionary team. We have half our slots filled, so are looking for 30 children to make Little Souls Daycare complete. Please pass the word and this blog post at will! In one short week, this Little Souls dream will be a reality!

*Psalm 103:1-5*

I've been under the weather lately, and was encouraged to receive a blessing from our newest staff member, Mandy Bull, who is our Assistant Director at Little Souls Daycare. She makes a wonderful addition to our RESCUE team!

Bless the LORD, O my soul and all that is within me,
bless HIS holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

-I hope that encourages you...I know that I find strength in the Word when I feel like I can't take another step forward! God bless Michelle!

~Mandy

I work with such a wonderful group of people!

January Toy Drive

January Toy Drive

for our grand opening of
Little Souls Daycare!

Drop your new or gently used toys, books, puzzles & games to 3535-8th Ave.

Open 24 hours and weekends. Call Jennifer for more info. 543-0011.

Media Release: GOVERNMENT ALLOCATES 496 NEW CHILD CARE SPACES

GOVERNMENT ALLOCATES 496 NEW CHILD CARE SPACES

Today at the Souls Harbour Rescue Mission in Regina, Deputy Premier and Education Minister Ken Krawetz announced that 17 agencies will be receiving $1.67 million in capital funding to develop 496 new child care spaces in 11 communities throughout the province.

"There is an increasing demand for child care spaces in Saskatchewan as more parents find their place in the workforce or pursue post-secondary education," Krawetz said. "Child care is a priority for the government, which is why we provided funding in this year's budget to develop 1,000 new child care spaces by the end of 2009-10. The 496 spaces allocated today will provide high quality early learning and child care opportunities, as well as support the social and educational development of young children."

Souls Harbour Rescue Mission is being allocated 60 child care spaces, and is receiving more than $200,000 in provincial space development capital funding to ready the former St. Andrew's Church for quality child care programming.

"This building was originally built with an eye to children and youth, where the founding elders said they wanted a place ‘where values can be caught as well as taught'," Souls Harbour Rescue Mission Executive Director Michelle Porter said. "Opening a daycare will bring this building back to its original purpose as well as fill a significant need in this community."

The 496 spaces are part of the Government of Saskatchewan's $4.22 million investment to develop 1,000 new child care spaces this year. The remaining spaces will be awarded to communities across Saskatchewan throughout the year, based on community readiness. This is a new process put in place to ensure communities will be able to open the spaces in the fiscal year they are allocated. Community organizations will be notified by the Ministry of Education as soon as new spaces are approved.

All 1,000 spaces will open by the end of 2009-10, bringing the total of licensed child care spaces in Saskatchewan to 11,400.

In addition to the funding of 1,000 new child care spaces, the early learning and child care sector received an additional $1.2 million to support the training of early childhood educators and $375,000 for child care for children with exceptionally high diverse needs this fiscal year. Child care centres received a seven per cent annualized CBO lift in 2008-09 and an additional three per cent in 2009-10 to support recruitment and retention of early childhood educators.



For more information, contact:

Sarah Still
Education
Regina
Phone: 306-787-1613
Email: sarah.still@gov.sk.ca