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Next Moose Jaw Women Who Care event to benefit Early Childhood Intervention Program

Moose Jaw Women Who Care, a group that meets three times a year to benefit local community organizations, will hold their next meeting on Thursday, Feb. 9 via Zoom to learn about the South Central Early Childhood Intervention Program (ECIP).

Moose Jaw Women Who Care, a group that meets three times a year to benefit local community organizations, will hold their next meeting on Thursday, Feb. 9 via Zoom to learn about the South Central Early Childhood Intervention Program (ECIP)

The Women Who Care project began in March 2021 as a way to raise awareness and gather funds for deserving local organizations such as Square One Community, Inc. and the Salvation Army.

“The idea is to spend one hour learning about groups like the South Central Early Childhood Intervention Program, that most people don’t know about,” explained Nicole Lillico, chair of Moose Jaw Women Who Care (MJWWC).

“And then, of course, we also want to raise funds, to help them with the work they’re doing so that they can reach more people and be more effective.”

Nancy Rosnes is the executive director for the South Central ECIP. She said more awareness of their work and funds to help is always welcome — especially after the impacts of the pandemic.

“Even though we’ve been around for 40 years this coming fall, unless you have a child with a delay or a diagnosis of a developmental disorder … you really don’t know that we exist.”

ECIP began as a grassroots movement by families who wanted more services for their children. They work with children aged birth to six months to help families prepare for school, increase basic neuromotor and cognitive abilities, and educate caregivers on the best ways to teach their children.

“We work with kiddos who have any sort of developmental delay, or they’re at risk for delay, or they have a diagnosed delay. So, if they’re not meeting any of their fine or gross motor skills (milestones), or they have a delay with their speech, or … autism, cerebral palsy, Downs syndrome, genetic or chromosomal abnormalities, anything like that,” Rosnes explained.

ECIP is primarily a home-visiting service, and it has an office in Moose Jaw that families can visit, but their catchment area is bigger than some countries. That means they are typically stretched thin. Like everyone else, they have also had to adopt social-distancing practices during the last two years.

“We work with the kids and the families to model developmentally appropriate activities … All of our services are play-based,” Rosnes said. “Our region is the whole South Central area of the province … from Craik down to the US border. We go about halfway to Regina, and then about halfway to Swift Current.

“We’ve kind of continued hybrid services past COVID, and it works well for a lot of families. Many families want us to still come into the home, because obviously kids are most comfortable in their home environment and that’s where you’re going to work with them best.”

The money raised by MJWWC will go towards buying toys, learning resources, and other supplies for families. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Education pays for ECIP’s core programs, but doesn’t go past that. The ECIP vehicle fund also needs constant help because of the wear and tear of their extensive travelling.

“The early years are so important, it’s so vital for kids to get the services that will give them their best chance,” Lillico said. “The earlier we can get kids connected and getting intervention, the better their future will be.”

Lillico also announced a change for MJWWC in that they welcome anyone regardless of gender to their meetings.

“We don’t want to change our name again, but we’re extending our invitation to everyone in the community.”

The goal is for each individual to donate $100 per meeting, which goes directly to the benefitting non-profit. Teams of four can also donate a collective $100 — $25 each.

Nevertheless, MJWWC is inviting everyone, even those who can’t afford to donate at all.

For more information or to register and receive the Zoom link for the meeting (Thursday, Feb. 9, 7 to 8 p.m.), email 100wwcmj@gmail.com and check out the MJWWC Facebook page.

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