The County Foundation is excited to announce a new fund and bursary program to benefit Prince Edward County. An anonymous donor has established a fund with the Foundation to address gaps and needs in the community.
One major need this fund will be addressing is the healthcare and Early Childhood Educator (ECE) shortage. Healthcare broadly encompasses a range of roles that are needed including nurses, nurse practitioners, PSWs and medical administrators.
Learn about how to apply
Level Up! Program
The Level Up! Program will aim to address healthcare and childcare needs by supporting County residents interested in changing their career or to complete further education within these sectors. Each year the program will award two recipients up to $40,000 over two years to support tuition and cost of living.
This program is open to applicants of all ages and is intended to support those living and working within Prince Edward County.
“I am incredibly grateful to this Donor for allowing data from Vital Signs to inform impactful grants in our community. The Level Up! Program will have the dual benefit of increasing the workforce in needed sectors such as healthcare and childcare while giving residents an opportunity to advance or change their careers with this support.”
The County Foundation utilizes data gathered through its reporting called Vital Signs, to inform needs in the community, and with the support of donors and fund holders can create innovative programs to meet the need.
Impact on Healthcare
As of October 2023, approximately 2000 residents were on the Health Care Connect list, a registry of residents who are not attached to a primary care provider.
“Our community is very fortunate to have an organization like The County Foundation that supports initiatives that directly benefit residents of Prince Edward County. As most of us are aware, the health care system is under significant pressure, contributing to this is a talent shortage in the sector.
This particular fund allows us to be innovative in our approach to recruitment through this partnership. Organizations like the Family Health Team will be able to build internal recruitment strategies, allowing team members who have the desire, to scale up in their professions providing them with growth opportunities, which also then serves as a retention tool. This truly is a win-win for our community.”
Mr. Gill elaborates, “This figure is certainly not an accurate representation of the number of unattached people we have in PEC, many folks are unattached and are not on the list and this is due to many reasons. One reason being is that people have been on the list for many years with no success, so residents don't see a benefit in being on the list.”
Recently Quinte Health issued a release highlighting the significant pressures being faced by our emergency departments in Hastings and Prince Edward Counties. Contributing factors include staffing, but also a reliance on emergency departments for ailments that could be otherwise addressed in a primary care environment.
Impact on Early Childhood Education
Equally a focus is Early Childhood Educators (ECEs). As noted in the 2022 Vital Signs report, Prince Edward County has experienced a lot of change through the course of the pandemic. One such change was an increase in the need for childcare, in 2022 it was reported that the wait list for childcare at The Hub Centre was 155 families, currently the list exceeds 400 families.
“Families are struggling to get back to work but cannot without childcare spaces and staff to work in those licensed childcare spaces."
Ms. Stanford continues, “ECE’s provide care and education to children from infancy to age 12. They play an incredibly important role in the lives of these children, as they are often their first teachers outside of the home. ECE’s are professional and are registered with the College of ECE’s. The quality of teachers in early childhood education strengthens children’s social skills, learning styles, and behavior. They also inspire, encourage, and promote children’s learning while nurturing children’s sense of belonging, engagement, expression and well-being.”
Additional space for licensed childcare is a concern in Prince Edward, but staffing is required to keep current and additional facility spaces operating. Ms. Stanford elaborates, “We require 40 staff for all of our programs currently to meet ratios of staff-children, of that 40 we have 21 RECE’s working at all of our sites, 6 staff that are currently enrolled in the ECE distant grant program and working while doing their ECE, and the other 13 of our staff are Non-ECE, all Managers and the ED are RECE’s but are not included in the staff to children ratio.”
Additional financial support for anyone interested in pursuing the ECE education program can be found at: https://ecegrants.on.ca.
More Information
In addition to the Level Up! Program this fund also encompasses the County Trades Scholarship which was launched in 2023, with a focus on supporting education in the trades, another sector in need of bolstered employment with a $20,000 award over two years. The fund will also support community needs as they arise through engagement with The County Foundation and Vital Signs data.
Learn how to apply to the Level Up! Program.
Applications are due May 31st and can be for start in the fall or winter term.
Learn how to apply to The County Trades Scholarship.
The deadline for all scholarships and bursary applications is May 31st.
