Lofty Plans

Today, I am travelling by Via Rail from Ottawa to Hamilton. It’s minus 20 degrees outside and the windows are frosting up creating a gauzy lens to view the snow covered countryside.  It is a beautiful and bright sunshiney day. The train is equipped with WiFi and has thus enabled me to take the time to write a City Kidz Ottawa update. 

I’m heading to Hamilton for an important meeting of City Kidz leaders from across Canada and am looking forward with excitement to reconnecting with the Hamilton crew and at the notion of finally meeting Donna West, Branch Coordinator for Regina.  Donna and I started the first two OFFICIAL branches of City Kidz at the same time and although I have spoken with her by Skype, I have never met her face to face. The purpose of this meeting will be to do some important vision mapping and goal setting for 2012. 

The chief objective for Ottawa in 2012 will be the kids and how we can impact them more in 2012. We already are up to 46 children on our roster.This means that we are home visiting almost 50 children bi-weekly throughout the year and bussing approximately 35 children (not all children choose to attend every session) to the bi-weekly Playhouse program which runs in the spring and fall.  Our hope this year will be to expand our territory and bring even more children in.  Now that we have moved our location to the City Church basement, which has donated this space for free, we can potentially fit 200 children into that space.  Perhaps we won’t reach 200 children this year, but perhaps another 30 children added to our roster to bring our numbers to 80?  My hope is that by the end of 2013  we will have the workers and enough money in the bank, to be reaching at least 200 children.  Impossible?  Nope.

We, in Ottawa, have a lot of big plans for our branch, and much of that will be discussed at the meetings that start Monday.  I can’t wait to hear what’s on the horizon for Hamilton and Regina, as well.

Here’s a couple of pictures from our Christmas Party last season. School bags and mitts and hats were donated by local groups and City Kidz Hamilton contributed stockings to be given to all the children. 

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…And ONE for all!