Community Open House Celebrated the Completion of Connections’ $2.9 million Renovation Project and 50 Years of Service

Windsor, ON — Connections Early Years Family Centre hosted a Community Open House event to celebrate the completion of its $ 2.9 million Building UP! renovation campaign and fifty years of service to the community.

The Building UP! campaign raised funds for improvements to the centre’s physical structure, ensuring an accessible and functional environment for all families. The renovations were made possible after a federal contribution of over $800,000 through the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program, as well as local fundraising that raised over $650,000.

Since 2018, building renovations and energy-efficiency upgrades have included:

• • Accessible main entrance and lobby
  • Elevator
  • Ramps and doorways
  • Barrier-free emergency exits
  • Climate-resilient windows
  • Accessible community kitchen
  • Outdoor learning space and accessible classroom
  • Accessible office space
  • S.T.E.M. playroom
  • Bilingual signage
  • Sensory play space for young children
  • Additional treatment and hearing screening rooms
  • Increased number of public washrooms
  • Hybrid meeting spaces
  • Energy-efficient building improvements such as LED lighting and insulation

2024 marks also fifty years of providing essential services, including an EarlyON Centre that offers play-based learning opportunities and groups for parents and children. Additionally, Connections offers the Be Back Soon Program and is the lead agency of the Talk 2 Me Preschool Speech & Language Program, the Infant Hearing Program, the Blind-Low Vision Program, and the Ontario Autism Program’s Caregiver-Mediated Early Years Program.

To honor this momentous occasion, the local community and families across Windsor-Essex were invited to join the Connections team at their Community Open House for refreshments, tours, and speeches from local philanthropist Alex Toldo, and elected official Lisa Gretzky, MPP for Windsor-West.

“This event provides us with the opportunity to thank our supporters, commemorate and reminisce with families and community members who have connected with us over the last 50 years, and help us showcase the accessible and energy-efficient features we added to our building so we can continue to support all families.”

• • BARB BROWN, Executive Director, Connections Early Years Family Centre

“The Government of Canada is honoured to support improvements to the Connections Early Years Family Centre, which has served families in Windsor-Essex with care for fifty years. The recent renovations have made the Centre more accessible and sustainable, enhancing safety, comfort and providing improved learning spaces. Supporting community leaders like Connections Early Years Family Centre is vital to helping our children learn and grow, and it’s important we keep investing in such essential infrastructure.”

• • IREK KUSMIERCZYK, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, Member of Parliament for Windsor – Tecumseh, on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities