inclusive childcare – Hope's Home

Why work as an Early Childhood Educator – Meet Jess

A career that is both rewarding, challenging, and inspiring – being an Early Childhood Educator for 10 years.

Jessica (more commonly known as Jess) Hoffman has been an Early Childhood Educator at Hope’s Home for 10 years. Year after year she welcomes new faces to Hope’s home, watches them as they grow and see the world with complete fascination and curiosity, and then has been there as they say goodbye to daycare. She’s truly witnessed it all. So we took a moment to look back on her career and get her perspective on the changes within the organization.

1. How long have you been at Hope’s Home? What positions have you all held here? Give a little explanation about each one.

I have been at Hope’s Home for 10 years. In those years I have worked with all age groups as an Early Childhood Educator. The age I enjoy most is Preschool and School-age children. I love the way they discover and explore new experiences each day. The last two years I had the opportunity to be the Early Learning and Childcare Manager at the JPII Daycare location. Currently, I am an Early Childhood Educator for Preschool/School-age children as well as the Relief Manager at the Regina South location. My favorite thing to do with the children is science and arts!

2. What is the main factor that’s made you stay at Hope’s Home this long?

The main reasons I’ve worked for Hope’s Home for so many years is the children and our inclusive programs. Our programs support every child and are set up to include everyone no matter your ability. The best part of this is watching the children reach milestones and build relationships with each other. Nothing is more gratifying than watching a child succeed and concur challenges all while having fun with their peers. The amazing staff are the other reason I have worked for Hope’s Home so long. It’s like a family here and everyone is here for the same reason, to support the kiddos. Working in this field is challenging at times but is also the most inspiring and rewarding job I’ve ever had.

3. How have you seen the organization change from when you started to how it is now?

I first started at our College Ave location with around 25 children and a few staff. Fast forward years later, we have more locations throughout the province that support children and their families. With these locations came new programs and more supports for the children. In 10 years I have seen a lot of successful change that has helped this organization grow immensely. Through all the changes in the past few years we have kept our Vison, Mission and Values, of loving, supporting and accepting every individual equally, while creating an enhanced environment for all children. I am proud to be a part of Hope’s Home and to see our community and families come together to support and teach these young humans. It’s pretty incredible and really highlights the hard work and advocacy of our staff and families at Hope’s Home.

4. How have you seen Hope’s Home impact the community you live and work in?

When I first started not a lot of people knew about Hope’s Home or very little at that. Now a large amount of people in our community know about Hope’s Home and I always get the response of, “Wow what incredible work you do! What an amazing place to work.” And I couldn’t agree more! Throughout the years I have seen the community come together and support our Early Learning programs and daycare services by inviting us to their businesses to tour with our classrooms, by visiting us to see how our programs run, making donations, volunteering, the list goes on.

5. What is your favourite Hope’s Home memory or moment?

It’s impossible to have one favorite memory! But I would say that each year we have an award for the “Child of The Year” and we highlight that child and all their milestones, success and hurdles they have overcome. Being in that moment of listening to the stories, telling the stories of that child, how hard they have worked to overcome challenges, and to see the relationships and acceptance that each child has is truly the best memory I can ask for. I am the lucky one who gets to experience this each day and be a part of such an amazing organization.

Have any questions for Jess about her career with Hope’s Home? Or just want to tell her she’s amazing? Let us know in the comments!

That’s why there’s no place like Hope. ❤️

Sep 24, 2020/0 Comments

Where Does My Donation Go?

Questions

One of our most commonly asked questions is “Where does my donation go?”

Our fundraised dollars are vital to the operation of our non-profit organization and ensure that all locations across Saskatchewan get proper resources. It helps improve our programming and allows us to provide a completely inclusive environment to our kids. As generous donors, you deserve complete transparency when you donate to a non-profit.

Below are the most common areas where our fundraised dollars are allocated:

Nursing Costs

Because of the nature of our organization, nursing salaries attribute to a large part of our operational costs. Fundraised dollars help us staff more nurses across the province in order to provide high quality health and safety for all children in attendance.

Classroom Supplies

Classroom supplies include items such as area rugs, books, shelving, puzzles, and art supplies. Having money allocated for classroom supplies allows our ECE’s to create projects based on topics the kids have expressed interest in to keep up with their growth and development.

Sensory Equipment

Sensory equipment helps calm and focus children so that they can better participate in learning and activities, and also help children work towards personal goals in specific areas of development. Some examples of this equipment include bubble tubes, light or water tables, switches, adaptive seating, and sensory boards.

Community Involvement

Fundraised dollars also goes towards getting our kids out and involved in their community. Costs are associated in order to explore our community which may include entrance/program fees, activity supplies, and transportation costs. There are a variety of activities and outings children can be involved in, such as the below where our children got to meet and play with Saskatchewan RoughRiders players.

Where to Donate?

If you are interesting in donating to Hope’s Home and helping fund these areas, you can click here. We appreciate each and every donor. Without them, we would not be able to provide these kids with the care and development that they deserve.

That’s why there’s no place like Hope. ❤️

Jul 22, 2020/2 Comments

Working at a Non-Profit – Meet Nikki.

People, Stories

The benefits of working at a non-profit: Let Nikki tell you why she has been with Hope’s Home for over 10 years!

Hope’s Home has been a registered non-profit organization for 14 years. Throughout those years we have grown the business to include a 24 hour home for children with complex medical needs, which we call Supportive Living and inclusive Early Learning & Childcare centres in Regina, Warman, and Prince Albert;. With all the expansions and changes, we have had some amazing staff members that have stuck with us since (basically) the beginning.

We felt that those staff members deserved to be highlighted and acknowledged for all the hard work and dedication they have shown. This mini series will showcase those staff members and why they chose Hope’s Home as their career.

We are starting off with the beautiful Nikki Hauck, who is currently our Administrative Assistant at our Regina South location. She is absolutely incredible – always helping out where needed, getting things back to you super speedy, and doing everything with a smile on her face. She is a joy to have at Hope’s Home.

1. How long have you been at Hope’s Home? What positions have you all held here? Give a little explanation about each one.

I have been at Hope’s Home for almost 12 years. I worked as a full time Developmental Worker for 10 years. In that time I also started up an art program with the kids. It involved planning different art projects with each group weekly. I did that for about a year and ended it off with a big art show held at the MacKenzie Art Gallery. It showcased all of the kids amazing art work and raised some excellent funds for Hope’s Home. I went on Maternity leave in 2018 and when I came back in 2019 I started in my administrative role.

2. What is the main factor that’s made you stay at Hope’s Home this long?

There are 3 reasons why I have stayed at Hope’s Home for so long: It’s the kids, the staff, and all of the families that we support. When you work with the same kids everyday, they become family to you and you love them as if they are. You become so close with the families because you are communicating with them everyday and are working with their kids to achieve the same goals and celebrating with them when they meet those goals! You also become family to your co-workers. Some days are hard and really challenging but when you work with great staff you become super close and are each others biggest support system. Some of the best people I know are people I have met at Hope’s Home.

3. How have you seen the organization change from when you started to how it is now?

When I first walked in the doors at our College Ave location there were about 8 kids and only a handful of staff. We took turns making lunch for the kids. It was like being a big family in a big house. A few months later the kids started to roll in and it just blew up after that. We grew out of the College Ave location pretty quickly and opened few classrooms at Regina Christian School to accommodate the growing number of children. Then the new locations in the province began to open and it has just been growing ever since. With that being said, Hope’s Home has still kept its family feel.

4. How have you seen Hope’s Home impact the community you live and work in?

When I used to get asked where I worked, people didn’t know what Hope’s Home was. Now when I get asked, I always get the comments of “Wow what an amazing place to work. I have heard so many wonderful things.” It’s so rewarding to hear all the parents stories of how this organization has impacted their lives.

5. What is your favourite Hope’s Home memory or moment?

One of my favorite memories was watching a little boy I worked with, accept the Child of the Year Award for all of his accomplishments. He was the first little face I saw on my first day at Hope’s Home. He faced many hardships and I was able to watch him overcome them – like helping him learn to walk and starting to communicate. How lucky am I that I get to be a part of this wonderful organization?!