Grandview Kids

Every Child And Youth Living Life At Their Full Potential

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Grandview Kids Year-End Activity Package

Adrian Polidano

Welcome to the end of 2020! The focus this year has been on monitoring your family’s physical health and taking every precaution to protect it. Unfortunately, this means that we likely have been under a huge amount of stress. Safety measures and closures have resulted in the loss of many of the activities that help us unwind and connect with others. It is important to take some time at the end of the year to engage in activities that help us relax, reconnect, and recharge.

The Grandview Kids Therapeutic Recreation Team has put together a large Activity Package (31 pages!) for families to access throughout the Holidays and beyond! We hope that this package chock-full of activities helps keep your family busy and entertained.

Click the link below to download the package:

Grandview Kids Therapeutic Recreation Activity Package 2020Download
A graphic depicting a child playing with a hula-hoop that reads: "Grandview Kids Activity Package"

The holiday season is always a busy time for parents and kids alike, in between looking for the perfect gift for loved ones, planning outdoor activities or baking delicious treats. However, it is especially busy for one couple in particular — Mr. and Mrs. Claus! And despite their jam-packed schedules, Santa and Mrs. Claus were able to take some time to visit Grandview Kids and Campbell Children’s School on December 7.

This year, Santa has been diligently quarantining in the North Pole, ensuring that he would be in good health to bring children the gifts they have been asking for this year. To follow his strict quarantine orders, Santa and Mrs. Claus visited with Grandview Kids and Campbell Children’s School on Zoom. Even Santa is making the most of technology amid the pandemic. He asked the kids to bring milk and cookies, and curl up in front of their tree or holiday decorations, to get into the Christmas spirit!

Little girl holding her stuffed animal close to her, sits in front of her computer on Zoom with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

We joined some of the kids at Campbell Children’s School to see how they enjoyed their visit. Everyone was very excited to speak with and see Santa and Mrs. Claus. When they appeared on screen, all of the kids became overjoyed and it was apparent they could not wait to get their one-on-one time with the famous pair.

Each child, one-by-one, would speak to Santa directly; they shared their Christmas wish list. It became obvious very quickly that anything and everything “Paw Patrol” was at the absolute top of everyone’s list. Santa made sure to let the kids know that the elves are working very hard to make sure those wish lists are checked off on Christmas Day.

The number one question that was asked of Santa this year was, “What’s your favourite cookie?” To which he always replied, “Chocolate chip, of course!” A few kids promised Santa that they would bake fresh chocolate chip cookies for him, and we think that he will hold them to it!

Thank you to all of the families who visited Santa on Zoom this year. We know it may have felt a little different, but 2020 has ushered in many changes for us. We were so pleased Grandview Kids got to see Santa, even if just virtually. It was safe, but also fun. The energy was palpable – even through the screen!. Thanks to our incredibly passionate Family Engagement Team for coordinating another successful visit with the “Man in Red.” Over 360 families got to enjoy his company this year.

From all of us at Grandview Kids, we hope you and your family enjoy a happy and healthy holiday season!

The following agencies offer programs and services to Durham Region families over the holidays. They provide access to food, clothing and/or toys. Please visit our website to see the list of organizations. You will need to contact the agency directly for more information. Note that families are only able to access one program, as the participant lists are cross-referenced.

Wishing everyone a warm and happy holiday season.

Ajax/Pickering Salvation Army – 905-427-7123 

  • 122 Hunt Street, Ajax
  • Serves residents of Ajax, Pickering and Uxbridge. Email information below to: intake@tsahope.com. Names and birthdays of everyone in household, address, phone number, total household income and expenses including rent/mortgage.

Bowmanville Salvation Army – 905-623-2185  

  • 75 Liberty Street South, Bowmanville
  • Serves Clarington residents. Call to book registration appointment.

CAREA community Health Center – 1-877-227-3217

  • 115 Grassmere Ave, Oshawa
  • Serves anyone who is currently a client or registered with one of their food banks.

Oshawa Salvation Army – 905-723-7422 * press 9

  • 45 King Street East, Oshawa (please use King Street doors)

Simcoe Hall Settlement House – 905-728-7525 (serves Oshawa residents)

  • 387 Simcoe Street South, Oshawa
  • Serves Oshawa residents.

South Side Worship Center – 905-428-1985

  • 55 Emperor Street, Ajax
  • Serves Ajax/Pickering residents.

St. Andrew’s Community Outreach Program – 905-668-4022

  • 209 Cochrane Street, Whitby
  • Serves anyone in Durham Region.

You can also find out more information on the Region of Durham’s Food Resource Directory website.

Dear, Parents/Caregivers of Grandview kids,

Please take a moment to share your experiences with the Impact of Covid-19 with the Infant Mental Health Promotion (IMHP) at the Hospital for Sick Children through this anonymous 5 minute survey.

Pulled from the Sick Kids Website:

Infant Mental Health Promotion (IMHP) at the Hospital for Sick Children, in collaboration with the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health (The Centre), Kids Brain Health Network (KBHN) and Children First would like to hear your thoughts about how our child and youth mental health system can improve the quality of services for children under 6 throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We’d like to invite you complete the survey below, which focuses on understanding:

  1. What information or services you accessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to support your youngest child’s well-being; and
  2. How we could help to improve the quality of this information and services as we continue to move through the pandemic (and perhaps a second wave).

The information we collect from you will help us to strengthen the supports that are available to you and your family. When completing the survey, please keep your youngest child in mind. And please forward this survey to other parents/caregivers in your network, across Canada.

This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete. Your participation is strictly voluntary, and you can withdraw at any time. Your responses will be kept anonymous, and you will not be identified in any way.

Meet 10-year-old Gavin!

A picture of a smiling Gavin.

Since he was able to make any kind of utterance, he could not be kept quiet! His mother Melanie says, “Gavin was slow to even begin making any sounds at all. When he finally began uttering “mama” or “dada”, he was at least two and a half years old…no one knew what he was saying, including myself or his siblings. Needless to say, strangers could make neither hide nor hair of his utterances”

While waiting for speech therapy at Grandview Kids, Gavin was seeing a private speech therapist, but his apparent lack of progress caused his mother to put an end to it. Melanie describes that Gavin’s first several years at school were tough, “he felt misunderstood at school by his peers, and was sometimes ostracized. He felt that he didn’t belong, and his self-esteem was suffering.”

Due to his severe difficulties with speech and trailing his experiences in private sessions and at school, he was referred to Grandview.

They got the call from Grandview Kids that it was his turn. This is when he met Grandview Kids Speech-Language Pathologist, Erika! Melanie attributes Gavin’s ultimate successes with Grandview Kids to the “hard and dedicated work of Erika”. When asked to elaborate on some of the ways that Grandview Kids has impacted Gavin’s life, his mom states:

“While I did have an expectation that his speech would improve, what astonished me were the other areas of his life that were impacted just as profoundly. Gavin has become a happier, self-assured, confident and incredibly outgoing child. These are not qualities that I would have ascribed to him prior to commencing speech therapy at Grandview Kids. He is a different child now, in all the right ways. Prior to this therapy, he was very shy and reserved and did not speak to anyone outside his circle. Even conversations with his family were strained due to the embarrassment and frustration that would arise when he was not being understood. 

After even just a handful of sessions, he developed the confidence to approach people outside his social circle and hold sustained conversations with them. The near-immediate change was breathtaking to witness. My little boy is learning to become more independent and to make his mark in this world!”

A photo of Gavin in the snow.
A picture of Gavin wearing a Christmas onesie and Santa hat.

Gavin looks forward to his speech therapy sessions. This is the time in his week where he gets to hang out and play games with Erika. She incorporates these games into his learning, and sometimes, he forgets that he’s even learning while he’s playing!

Melanie comments on the chemistry they have built throughout Gavin’s speech therapy sessions, “[Erika] is so incredibly kind and understanding, as well as knowledgeable, and always knows exactly the right thing to say or do to maximize Gavin’s potential”.

When asked about the future, and the goals she hopes to see Gavin reach over the next couple of years, Melanie says:

“What I want for Gavin is what he has always wanted for himself: to be able to communicate without difficulty. This is something that so many people, myself included, take for granted, and yet Gavin struggles with this on a daily basis.

I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and Erika is the one holding the torch! Thanks to Grandview Kids, I can now envision sometime in the not-too-distant future, Gavin in deep conversation with someone, and they are having no clue that he ever had a speech problem.”

HOPE, CELEBRATION, DISCOVERY, BELONGING

These four words guide the planning and development of the NEW Grandview.

Recently during a Zoom project planning meeting, Family Advisory Committee member Marilyn Robitaille had to turn off her camera. “I am sorry I had an emotional moment; I didn’t suspect when I was doing that rally years ago that I’d end up in a meeting planning the layout of the NEW Grandview. I realized just how much work went to get to this meeting, it’s surreal”, Marilyn expresses.

There is so much emotion and passion for the project that is evident when discussing the NEW Grandview Children’s Centre. It could be easy to get caught up in the “work” of all the planning for the new Centre, however, Grandview Children’s CEO Lorraine Sunstrum-Mann says the planning team makes a point to anchor every meeting and conversation to hope, celebration, belonging and discovery. “These words were deliberately selected as they resonate the most about how the children, youth and families we serve are reflected in the work of Grandview and how we intend to bring the strategic plan of Grandview, and importantly the values that have guided Grandview and been cherished by the community for 67 years, forward into the new facility”, Lorraine notes. 

Meetings are occurring regularly and consists of members from Infrastructure Ontario, the Government of Ontario, Expert Consultants from B+H Architects and Colliers Project Leaders and Grandview Children’s Centre. The Project Management Team meetings open with the sharing of a “Grandview Moment”. These moments outline the stories of the children, youth and their family’s life experiences and the impact Grandview has had in their lives. This helps to ground all parties in the reason this new facility dream is so important to Durham Region families.

The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is a very significant milestone. At the end of this RFQ process, Grandview will have selected three teams to receive a Request for Proposal (RFP) and ultimately, one of those three will be selected as the finalist to complete the design and construct the new Grandview. This is a P3 project, which means the building of the new Grandview is guided by Infrastructure Ontario, partnering with the Government of Ontario, Grandview Children’s Centre and ultimately the selected team. Those who have been following the project funding will know the Government of Canada, and of course, many citizens, businesses and organizations across the Durham community and beyond are also key partners and supporters in funding the project.

There are several milestones ahead of us. The first is evaluating all of the potential teams that respond to the RFQ and then narrowing it down to the three most qualified to be able to design, build and finance this project. Those top three teams will then respond to a Request for Proposal (RFP) targeted to be released at the end of March 2021. Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it is going to take a village to build the new Grandview. There are many people, companies and organizations involved in this project. Grandview has requested that the team awarded the final contract to build the new Grandview source labour locally whenever possible for this project as we recognize the employment needs, and we are so grateful to so many in our community.

To summarize the timeline of this project, the RFP will be released at the end of March 2021 and throughout approximately six months following that, the design teams will put together their bid. Decision for teams will take place in Fall 2021 with this process closing in likely early 2022. Groundbreaking TBD. Fall 2021 will be RFP open period and unless it is purely ceremonial, it should be delayed. Construction is projected to start between January 2022 and March 2022, and that is followed by a two-year construction plan with a substantial completion between January 2024 and March 2024.

Although seemingly a major challenge to face, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided helpful insight regarding any required new infection prevention and control precautions to be considered into the planning of the facility. Lorraine mentions that “[working through a pandemic] has allowed us to review our project and make sure that the new Centre can flex, when we encounter another pandemic or health emergency and can avoid having to interrupt our services where possible”. In addition to flexible space, the new building will provide adequate physical space to do group work and other large gathering activities.

When asked to reflect on this RFQ release milestone in the life of Grandview as the CEO, Lorraine says, “I think that this is one of the most significant moments in Grandview’s journey in terms of watching this project move from a dream to a reality… [this milestone] is signalling to the market that it’s time to let Grandview know if you’re interested in being the team that bids to build the new Grandview… we are getting very close to handing the detailed planning over and asking someone to convert the words and our story into a final design”.

Hope, celebration, belonging and discovery are lifting and guiding us as we inch ever closer to the goal.

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