A common ground

South Osborne

South Osborne community members have been asked to support a years-long, family-focused project in the heart of the neighbourhood.

The South Osborne Commons project aims to convert Churchill Park United Church (525 Beresford Ave.) into a child-care facility and community hub.

A fundraiser — Play it Forward: The South Osborne Commons Show— was held Nov. 22 to raise awareness, money and also educate the community about the project and the combined team behind it. At press time, scheduled performances included Al Simmons, Keri Latimer (of Leaf Rapids) and Daniel Jordan, as well as family activities in the church’s upstairs gym.

John McNairnay, vice-chair of the South Osborne Commons board, and a member of the Churchill Park congregation said the main goal of Play it Forward was to let the community know what’s going on.

“This is a great project,” he said. “But it is time to be clearer about it, get it on everybody’s radar … so they can get behind it.”

The SOC renovation project, launched in 2022, is a joint initiative of four neighbourhood associations – the South Osborne Child Care Alliance (SOCCA); Riverview Ashland Child Care Centre (RACC); Churchill Park United Church (CPUC) and the United Church of Canada; and the SOC board of directors. McNairnay calls it “alphabet soup.”

Its aim is to convert the existing facility into a hub containing a licensed early learning and child-care program, family-centred services such as counselling, speech pathology, parenting courses, food preparation training in a community kitchen, art groups, space for Scouts or Guides, and other arts and recreation services.

The building was donated to the community by the congregation, which has been a massive support of the vision. In keeping with this, there are plans to keep services going in the updated version of the space.

“It’s been an interesting relationship,” McNairnay said, adding that the congregation has been excited. He said it was hard, at first, to navigate the change but there simply aren’t available resources to keep the church operating as it had since the 1950s — when it first opened its doors.

“It’s getting really real,” he said. “Now we have a timeline … the congregation is getting engaged, and are asking, ‘How do we fit in here?’”

“It takes on a new life in the community,” McNairnay added. “Maybe it’s not just a church now… that’s important to me.”

“The church could’ve sold the building and turned it into condos,” pointed out Beverly Suek, treasurer of the SOC board, who said she’s grateful for the generosity of the congregation.

Suek doesn’t have immediate relatives who require child-care but she recognized the need for more licensed child-care resources while scrolling social media.

Many waitlists go back for years, she said, adding that, once women find out they’re pregnant, they should get on a child-care list right away.

“I thought, ‘I just gotta do something about this,’” she said. “Something’s gotta change.”

The project is in its pre-construction phase, Suek said. An architect has been hired and grants will be applied for. Its projected opening date is September 2027.

For more information, check out the South Osborne Child Care Alliance page on Facebook.