An excerpt from her speech:

Thank you to the YWCA for your commitment to women!  It’s really an honour just to be nominated for The Women of Distinction award.  Congratulations to all 60 nominees tonight. I am humbled by this acknowledgement. 

It is a lot easier to buy a new dress than to prepare a speech I can tell you that.  I am sure we have 60 excellent speeches prepared in this room.  My suggestion is that we post them all on a blog and celebrate!

 Truly my comfort zone is being an active member of a team: 

• A team that is committed to a strong vision
• A team that understands the value of each member

I am proud to say that I am part of several teams. I would like to acknowledge three of those teams.

One is the Today’s Family Team:

• staff,
• caregivers,
• senior management, and
• board of directors

We exist to enrich children’s lives and enhance family life. We have a can-do attitude and embrace our work with passion and commitment. I understand that board member George Morasse had a hand in my nomination. The sign of a progressive man is how he acknowledges the strengths of a woman. Thank you George.

The second team that I am proud to be a member of is the Hamilton Best Start Team. Our team is lead by Grace Mater of the City of Hamilton and Chaired by Paul Johnson. Over 50 members representing institutions and organizations all committed to children and their families. 

• Best Start is about community and connections
• Best Start is about our future. It is a continuous learning environment.
• Best Start is all about doing what is best for children
• Thank you to Grace Mater for supporting my nomination

The third team is my family. The Flaherty and Benedetti Team. We are teams within teams. My husband Paul and our children Ella and James are here. Our son Matthew has made Scotland his home base for this year and he is traveling through Europe. He has been gone a year and we miss him. Also 2 of my 5 sisters, Brenda and Barb, are here to support my nomination. Imagine being so lucky to have 5 sisters and 4 step sisters to laugh, to cry and to grow with?  Family is important to all of us. We have a wonderful large network of family.

I would like to take this opportunity to talk about child care.  It’s not often that we put a great many of Hamilton’s brightest leaders in one room – and I’m going to take advantage of that!

Child care matters. Child care matters to families and to employers.  High quality, safe and affordable child care matters to the future of Ontario and to the future of Canada. Without an immediate funding fix, licensed child care in every community across Ontario will close. Licensed child care must become a priority.  I am asking each and every one of you to think about this:

• Be a leader
• Be a part of the solution 
• Do it for the kids

 Click here to read the article in the Spectator about the 2012 Women of Distinction Awards. 

Lori’s story:

In September 2004, my husband and I were expecting our first child. When I was 38 weeks pregnant, the doctor could not find our baby’s heart beat.  Ultra sound confirmed our precious Mikayla was gone, and just like that our world changed forever. What do you do when your baby dies, and the world keeps going on? We were very lucky to have a supportive family and wonderful friends, but no one quite knew the pain we were feeling, or how to help us.

I called Bereaved Families of Ontario-Hamilton/Burlington. I spoke to an amazing woman named Julie. She listened, and she let me cry. Julie had also lost her son; she had lived through the pain and grief, and came out the other side. I found I was not alone; someone “got me!”  They knew what I was saying, and had similar experiences. BFO then offered me one-on-one support, a volunteer called me, she had lost her son at birth, and she knew the pain of going to the hospital pregnant and coming home without your baby. She could understand the aching of empty arms, and the anger of an empty nursery, or the pain of seeing another woman’s baby. That spring we attended a Perinatal Loss Support Group, offered though BFO-HB.  I so looked forward to the group, we felt “normal” again, although it was a new “normal”, we learned we were not “going crazy”, other people were feeling the same way. We learned strategies for dealing with our anger, and our grief. We were able to share Mikayla’s little life with strangers.  There were no clichés, or hurtful remarks like, “Oh, you’re young, you can have another baby.” The people in that room knew we did not care about another baby, we wanted this baby! The other couples in the group became very good friends of ours, we still keep in touch. We joke we are members of a group that no one wanted to join, but are thankful for the support and friendship they offered us. 

I was so appreciative of BFO that I wanted to thank them for helping us through the worst time in our lives, and I wanted to give back. I wanted to help other people whose baby had died. So I became a volunteer for BFO-HB, I took the facilitator training, and now I am supporting grieving parents.  Because BFO-HB is a charity and all of their programs are free of charge, I also help with fundraising, at the annual Walk in Remembrance and Butterfly Release.The first year (2007) of the Walk, they were looking for event sponsors. As a Today’s Family employee, I knew Today’s Family supports other non-profit agencies like BFO-HB, in our community. I asked Marni Flaherty, Today’s Family CEO, if Today’s Family could sponsor the BFO Walk.  I was thrilled when she said “Yes, Today’s Family is all about supporting families in our community!”  Today’s Family has sponsored the walk every year since.    

Last year there were almost 400 people participating, and we raised $32,000 for BFO-HB. I sent an e-mail asking friends and family for pledges in memory of Mikayla. Our family and friends including many Today’s Family co-workers, were so generous, we raised about $900.00. Because we raised over $500 in pledges, BFO-HB placed a sign on the walking trail in memory of Mikayla. At the end of the Walk families release butterflies in memory of their loved ones. It is very heart warming to watch hundreds of butterflies floating off into the big blue sky.

I am very lucky to have the support of BFO-HB and Today’s Family.These people were there for us during some very difficult times. The friendships I have made over the years mean so much to me. And because of these wonderful people, my Mikayla will not be forgotten; she will live on in our hearts. What a priceless gift-thank-you!!!   

The Walk in Remembrance and Butterfly Release takes place in June 2012. Please help us to support families in our community.

Does Child Care Matter to You?

Safe and affordable licensed child care matters to Ontario’s children, families and to our economy.  It matters to Ontario’s future. Only an immediate investment and fix to the funding model will keep our licensed, non-profit child care centres and licensed home child care spaces from eroding. Tell your MPP to stand up for high quality child care that gives our kids the best start in life and protects Ontario’s already fragile economy.

How you can help:

Here’s your opportunity to make a difference:

• Go to www.childcarematterstome.ca and spread the message that Child Care Matters to You
• Sending out e-mails to MPPs and spreading the word is a click away – go to the website
• Like the Facebook Page so we can build support as quickly as possible
• Share the message and the website with your contacts and colleagues

Spread the message: Child Care Matters to Me

www.childcarematterstome.ca

In the not-for-profit child care world, we are committed to working with schools and community partners to provide the best care and early learning for children. Ontario needs a strong, healthy and sustainable child care sector to provide high-quality care for children and their families. We recognize that more work needs to be done in Ontario to support children and families to access affordable quality early learning and child care. Working together with local and provincial partners, Today’s Family can help Ontario build a strong, integrated child care system for families.

As a member of the Quality Early Learning Network (along with 18 other multi-site, multi-service not for profit organizations),  we see the urgent need for the development of a child care stabilization and transition plan that ensures the availability of a sustainable, high quality and affordable child care system for all families. Stable, quality child care in Ontario is increasingly vulnerable, leaving thousands of children and working families at risk. Removing four- and five-year-olds from the child care system leaves only toddlers and infants, whose care is far more expensive because they require a higher early childhood educator-to-child ratio.

The Quality Early Learning Network has released  SOLUTIONS :How the Ontario Government can rescue and ensure the viability and quality of the province’s child care system. Child Care is an essential part of an early learning and care agenda. It is a vital service for thousands of families in Ontario and an important contributing support to our economy. Child Care faces an unprecedented ‘crisis’ – we do not use this term lightly as indeed we are facing a dramatic reduction of child care services in Ontario. This open paper outlines the crisis, but more importantly, starts a dialogue toward solutions.

Please share  SOLUTIONS :How the Ontario Government can rescue and ensure the viability and quality of the province’s child care system.We welcome your feeback at: QELNNetwork@gmail.com .

Collaborating with other partners, such as the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board,  especially with the Work and Learn program and Focus on Youth program, the Industry Education Council, the YMCA of Hamilton, Burlington and Brantford, Canada Summer Jobs, the Ministry of Culture, Citizenship and Immigration and Mohawk College, allow for meaningful experiences for youth in our community. We are richer for the experience, both as an agency and as a community.

We are pleased to announce that we have been nominated by the Industry Education Council of Hamilton for the 2012 Passport to Propserity Employer Champion Award. It is a pleasure to work with collaborative partners to support youth in our community.

While we support the introduction of the full day of learning for four- and five-year-olds, in Ontario, the impact of its implementation has exacerbated the cracks in an already fragile child care system. This has become quite evident in Toronto early learning and child care programs. Long term underfunding of child care services as well as impacts from the implementation of full-day kindergarten has brought Toronto’s child care system to the brink. The Toronto City Report has a number of recommendations including the key recommendation that “City Council communicate to the Premier of Ontario and the Minister of Education the urgent need for the development of a child care stabilization and transition plan that ensures the availability of a sustainable, high quality and affordable child care system for all families”. This is but one example of the challenges early learning and child care faces across the province.

Stable, quality child care in Ontario is increasingly vulnerable, leaving thousands of children and working families at risk. Removing four- and five-year-olds from the child care system leaves only toddlers and infants, whose care is far more expensive because they require a higher early childhood educator-to-child ratio.

Although there are many changes and challenges ahead in early learning and child care, there are also good new stories. The launch of Early Years Study 3 ( Mustard, McCain) has re-invigorated the conversation about the benefits of quality early learning as a smart start for school and for life and the role of early childhood education plays in economic development. Locally, the Hamilton Best Start magazine reminds us of all the work that is happening in the Hamilton community for children and families. “The magazine’s launch is timely, as it falls in line with the Week of the Child & Youth celebrations, and the latest Early Years Study 3 authored by the late Dr. Fraser Mustard,” says Paul Johnson, Hamilton Best Start Network Chair and the City’s Director of Neighbourhood Development Strategies. “Dr. Mustard was a visionary whose early child development research will continue to influence the evidence-based programs Best Start builds across this city.

We in the not-for-profit child care world are committed to working with schools and community partners to provide the best care and early learning for children. Ontario needs strong, healthy and sustainable child care sector to provide high-quality care for children and their families. We recognize that more work needs to be done in Ontario to support children and families to access affordable quality early learning and child care. Working together with local and provincial partners, Today’s Family can help Ontario build a strong, integrated child care system for families.