Family to the rescue; Fernie Childcare Society members will discuss the future of a planned not-for-profit daycare in the town at their AGM on Monday. Rebecca Edwards finds out how one Fernie family is juggling childcare and work
The Free Press (Fernie)
April 16, 2009
By: Rebecca Edwards

Mom Lana Gale started working from her Ridgemont home as a bookkeeper and mortgage broker when she realized she couldn't get daycare to continue in her old job at Elk Valley jobseekers after having her first baby.

Tyson turned two on Sunday, her husband Jon works full time at Teck Coal and, even based from a home office, Lana has struggled to find daycare to suit them all.

"It was very, very difficult juggling work - there isn't enough available care especially for under two-year-olds.

"I started my mortgage brokering course when he was nine months old and I had to study while he was sleeping because there was no other option.

"Private home carers charge $25 for a half day and the ski hill day care is $50 a day. "I'm lucky in that I'm not in a minimum wage job - I just don't know how people manage when they are earning $10 an hour and paying $8 an hour."

The family reached crisis point earlier this year when Tyson stopped sleeping at night, and Lana fell sick with a winter bug. She had to get her mom Vicky Stubbs to fly over from Campbell River to help out.

This has worked out well for the family, but Stubbs had to leave the family business and her other daughter and grandchildren in Campbell River in order to stay in Fernie.

Lana says the ideal service for her would be flexible, drop-in day care as a backup when her work schedule gets busy.

"I can't always predict when I will need daycare, so it is no good having somewhere you have to book two weeks in advance."

She adds: "I think it is really important to have affordable daycare in a community - it has a big knock-on effect because it means people are more likely to be able to afford a mortgage."…