This October would mark Raelene Bielecki’s thirteenth year at the Children’s Centre, but, after all that time, she says she needs to take a break.
Back then, she started working on a free family fun night. “That was a foot in the door for me,” says Bielecki, or Miss Raelene as she’s known to children and parents alike. “I had my certificate from college and was doing that. Then I took over a maternity leave with the group daycare and continued courses. And then I became Executive Director, taking over for the last manager who left. It was a quick transition for me, but I had a great support system to help. I had a mentor, Shirley [Oetheimer], who had experience running her own business and was really dedicated and passionate about Early Childhood Education. She was my rock in in this transition. She was really amazing. She stayed with us for quite some time. She moved to Tumbler to retire but stayed on as a preschool teacher, simply because she was so passionate and we of course, welcomed her back every year with open arms.”
That was a decade ago, but things change. She is no longer only Miss Raelene to everyone’s kids, but now has her own. “My family life is putting different demands and strains on me and working full time. And obviously we’ve all faced challenges in the last couple of years with Covid. For me, it was realizing what the important things are in life and what I needed to do. Being short staffed, and all the other stresses that are put on the shoulders of management, have just kind of had me down and looking to restore and reset. I need to take a look and focus on my myself and my family.
“My husband’s work schedule has changed too. He’s working away from the community, which is also just another pressure on our family.”
And so she’s stepping away from work. For now, she says. “I am simply taking some time to work on myself and refocus my energy.”
Which, for someone who has been holding the Children’s Centre together with bailing twine and determination for the last few years is hard to do. “It’s hard to leave knowing the challenges that our community faces, but I’ve borne the weight of all of it for the 12 years that I’ve been here: making those choices and those hard calls and those decisions. I know that I’m the only one advocating for myself and I have to make that hard call for myself and my family. So I understand that there is a need. I’ve felt that need for quite some time. But right now, there’s lots of supports from the provincial, federal governments.”
Still, she says, moving forward may be difficult. “One of the hardest things of being in the north is recruiting qualified people. We see that with doctors, nurses, teachers…all kinds of professions, and we see it here as well. We need certain qualifications to meet the licensing requirements, and unfortunately, there’s just not enough people to fill those roles at this point in time. There’s a shortage of Early Childhood educators across BC and Canada and BC.”
Part of the trouble, she says, is that demand in the community ebbs and flows. “One year, there will be a high demand, and then a mine closes, and there’s no demand. We are looking to expand, to fill the needs of the future for the community because more space is required. Of course, with more space, comes more qualified professionals. But I think in order for the community to economically grow into what the District would like to see, childcare is one of the base needs that must be set in order for things to flourish. There have been day homes that have come and gone that have contributed to childcare solutions in our community, but they’ve been more temporary than permanent, and there are none currently running at the moment.”
And places like the Children’s Centre do more than just watch the kids while the adults are away for the day. “As Early Childhood Educators, we’re also promoting the ‘educating’ part of it, and healthy developed development all round. The kids are getting time outside, to have that physical movement. They’re getting to play games that need cooperation and social skills that are key concepts with development. It’s more than just a place for them to come. It is looking at the wider scope of child development and how we can support them.”
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
