Manitoba’s minister for early childhood learning offered to help a North End daycare move to a new location after it suffered a break-in, thefts and repeated vandalism in recent months, but the centre says it is staying put.
Gerrie Prymak, a board member for non-profit Woman Healing For Change Inc, which operates the Little Stars Playhouse daycare, said Minister Tracy Schmidt made the offer by phone Wednesday morning after media reports highlighted the incidents.
She said she was baffled by the minister’s offer because the centre’s location on Selkirk Avenue was selected after extensive research was done to find the best spot for the community’s needs.
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Gerrie Prymak, a board member for non-profit Woman Healing For Change Inc, which operates the Little Stars Playhouse daycare, stands in the back lane behind the North End daycare, filled with graffiti and garbage.
“We built this place. Why do we have to move? Why can’t you get rid of those derelict buildings behind us?” Prymak said.
Changing location won’t address the lingering problems of vacant buildings, drug use and crime, she said.
Instead, the province and city need to find solutions to the issues plaguing the William Whyte neighbourhood, she said.
Schmidt confirmed she called the daycare but didn’t answer questions from the Free Press about offering to help find a new location. She said she was concerned about the incidents.
“I called the daycare centre this morning to offer my unequivocal support and gratitude to the staff and the leadership at Little Stars,” Schmidt said.
The province will work with leadership to find solutions to improve safety and security for staff at the current location, she said, but didn’t provide details.
The daycare has faced a slew of crime this year. Earlier this month, thieves broke into the centre, smashed its security system and stole multiple electronic devices. The burglars also made off with a $2,000 specialized stroller.
Throughout the year, locks have gone missing and hateful graffiti was sprayed outside the door. In August, people started fires in the centre’s garbage and recycling bins.
“We built this place. Why do we have to move? Why can’t you get rid of those derelict buildings behind us?”
Prymak said staff are scared to go to work.
”I just felt so sick,” she said. “Some of them are coming in at seven in the morning, especially the one who opens up, and it’s dark and you don’t know what you’re going to run into.”
Prymak pointed to the boarded-up vacant buildings across the centre’s back lane that’s shared with Pritchard Avenue, which she says are a hotbed for drug use. People who are squatting in the homes have harassed workers taking garbage out to the lane and have been seen using drugs in the daycare’s backyard, she said.
There are 28 children enrolled at the facility.
The damage will cost the centre at least $10,000 to replace the stolen items, install a new security system and repair a fence. Prymak said that money could be used for more Indigenous programming and better equipment.
“We learn about Indigenous culture, we learn about colonization, and our staff are just so grateful whenever we can do this, but now we’re just spending our money on security,” she said. “It’s just so heartbreaking.”
The safety concerns started once the police stopped doing foot patrols in the neighbourhood and directed more resources toward downtown, she said.
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Over the last year, the daycare centre's locks have gone missing and graffiti was sprayed outside the door. In August, people started fires in the centre’s garbage and recycling bins.
Officers are investigating the incidents, but no arrests have been made, Winnipeg police Const. Pat Saydak said in an email statement.
Earlier this month, police told a community forum in the William Whyte neighbourhood that crime in the area was up 40 per cent between January and August compared to the same time last year.
Winnipeg Police Service Chief Gene Bowers said at the time inadequate mental-health resources and addictions treatment beds and weak bail reform makes tackling crime in the neighbourhood more difficult.
Angie Gauthier lives on Selkirk Avenue, a few doors down from the daycare. She said she was disgusted after learning of the break-ins.
“What is wrong with our people? That is for children. They don’t care about kids,” she said Wednesday.
Gauthier lives with her 82-year-old mother and is considering moving because of violence and drug use in the area.
She said her garage has been broken into multiple times, with thieves “grabbing anything they can get their hands on.”
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Prymak watches children play in the daycare’s front outdoor area. While the play space is safe for children, Prymak remains concerned about vandalism, break-ins and open drug use near the North End centre in recent months and is calling for action from the city or province.
Gauthier was saddled with a $1,500 bill to replace a fence after burglars dismantled it for scrap metal.
The issues will continue until the city and province take action against the neighbourhood’s vacant homes, she said.
“If you’re not going to fix it, tear it down,” Gauthier said.
matthew.frank@winnipegfreepress.com