Written by MayBell Developments – December 29th, 2022
Looking back on the year past is one of our favourite things around here. In the day-to-day, we tend to become wrapped up in what isn’t going to plan or how the small things could have worked better. As we follow the steps that we have taken in the last 12 months, we realize that God’s plans are bigger and better than our own.
This was a very exciting month for us as we had been working towards Discretionary Use approval through the City of Regina. The area we are looking to build our Childcare Centre and Duplex Development on needed to be approved for these uses and, on January 19th, the planning commission and city council voted to unanimously approve our application!
In many ways, 2022 felt like an arrow being pulled back as we ready ourselves to be launched forward. February brought the beginning of our planning process for the childcare centre and the continuation of planning/funding for the Lilium Village Build. We are excited to welcome on board Fries Tallman, Sterling Plumbing & Heating, and Everflow Eaves & Exteriors as build sponsors!
Before:
After:
Every March we begin another session of Faith & Finances. We continue to partner with Shayil Home at Soul’s Harbour and began this session with 3 leaders and 5 allies. With our space beginning non-structural demolition on March 7th, Faith & Finances moved into our landlord’s space with snacks provided by volunteers from Hillsdale Baptist Church. We realize that programming is one of the main factors that contribute to the success that our leaders will experience as such we are expanding that programming and have trained a second Faith & Finances facilitator this spring.
Another month of planning and preparing for permits. In April, we also added a fun new tool to our toolbelts and registered for Right Now Media @ Work. This website will allow us to provide individual accounts for our board, leaders, and allies. Users can log in to this Netflix-like service and tune into our custom content, personal and professional development videos, and Bible studies. We hope to have our custom content designed for our Spring 2023 volunteer onboarding.
This month we headed back to the drawing board for the Lilium Village Build. Many funding sources require us to meet Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation standards to apply for their funding. This means that 3 of our 12 units will need to meet accessibility requirements. Meeting CMHC standards would open doors for more diverse funding opportunities.
On June 20th, we graduated two Faith & Finances participants! With a shortened build schedule upcoming for the Duplex Development, our Board of Directors decides to post for the Executive Director position to assist with funding applications and building relationships within the community.
To date, we have received $277,000 in private donations and $445,000 in promised grants/in-kind materials towards the Lilium Village Build.
This month we began the next step in program expansion and started building a team for WorkLife. WorkLife is a sister program to Faith & Finances and builds on God’s design for work. It looks at our purpose and individual talents while building relationships with local businesses for employment opportunities. We would like to see this program run in 2023 after our building renovation is complete.
As our Lilium Village board date approaches we relent to following God’s timeline and not our own. The Lilium Village Build is moved to Spring 2023 to allow for accessibility redesign and increased time for funding. Lilium Village Childcare permit application is submitted to the City of Regina on August 17th.
We hired our first Executive Director, Shelly Keizer, with a start date of September 5th!
Shelley started and has been making progress in grant applications as well as connecting with donors and community partners. We began our Fall Faith & Finances session with 3 new leaders, 2 returning leaders, and 5 allies. The push for updated Lilium Village plans begins and we hope for submitting permits in January.
Our time with our first Executive Director, Shelley, was short-lived when she resigned abruptly on October 14th for personal reasons. The Board made the decision to hire from our existing pool of candidates instead of reposting the position. Planning for the 2nd Annual Knit-a-thon is underway and we are excited to have Yarn Over as the yarn sponsor and Nychuk & Company as our event sponsor! After months of revisions, our permits for Lilium Village Childcare were approved on October 21st!
On November 14th, our board member, Michelle Coghill, resigned from her board position and accepted the Executive Director position. Michelle brings with her 14 years of experience in family social work and a deep understanding of the needs we are seeking to meet in our community.
Childcare renovations began with cutting out HUGE windows to bring natural light into the space. We would like to thank CENA Construction, Southern Coring & Cutting, Kruse Glass, Superior Drywall, Approved Plumbing & Heating, and TressTech Electric for their work in the centre so far. Our estimated open date for LV Childcare has moved to March 2023.
Michelle has been getting settled; organizing information and making connections in the community as well as running our Knit-a-thon event! The Knit-a-thon is running full speed ahead and we are looking forward to knitting/crocheting 750 skeins of yarn into toques, mitts, and scarves throughout the month of January. In February 2023 we will distribute to inner city schools (Kitchener, Seven Stones, and more), Mackenzie infant centre, Sofia House, Awasiw: A Place of Hope, North Central Family Center, Good News Chapel, and Soul’s Harbour.
Special thanks to two generous donors who wish to remain anonymous but have donated $120,000 and $150,000 this year towards our Lilium Village Build Project. Also thanks to Our Lady of the Prairies for a grant of $10,000.
At the end of 2022, we raised a total of $735,000 in private donations and promised grants/in-kind material donations towards the Lilium Village Build Project.
We need to reach $1.2 Million to fund this project but would love to see $1.5 Million to cover any added costs that arise. Donations remaining after the completion of Lilium Village will flow into our operating fund which pays our Executive Director’s salary, programming costs, and additional property expenses not being covered by our tenant’s flexible rent.
We are so grateful for God’s guidance and provision this year and cannot wait to see what He has planned for 2023. A big THANK YOU to all of our supporters in 2022; we hope you’ll stick with us for 2023!
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