Chippewas of the Thames First Nation social service team brings summer fun to community children

By Colin Graf

CHIPPEWAS OF THE THAMES FIRST NATION— Children here are having more summer fun than might have been expected thanks to the help from the community’s social service team.

Members of the team started their “Roadside Program” at the start of June, checking in with parents and children outside of their homes, says Social Services Director Tammy Deleary. The visiting staff have been asking families if they need any special support, and dropping off snacks for kids, along with activity materials such as board games, colouring books, reading books, art kits, crosswords and word search puzzle books.

COTTFN’s Youth and Recreation team is also helping with the program, delivering items such as basketballs, soccer balls, and other outdoor play equipment, Deleary says.

“It’s all about keeping kids busy at home,” she says, adding that it’s also about helping families weather the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Having the youth recreation team on board “is very important” because many kids miss the Right to Play activities in the after school program in the community.

One new idea this year is Water Day, according to Deleary. Earlier in July, staff handed out water guns, garden hoses, and other water toys to 75 families, supplying well over 100 children in one day.

“We had to shop like crazy for that one,” she says.

COTTFN mother Angie Henry says the Roadside Program has helped her family by allowing them to stay connected to community members even while stuck at home.

“It has been a great program and I think it has been important for my children to have other adults check in on them just so they are aware that other people are thinking of them and care for them during this time,” she tells Anishinabek News. “My whole family was able to use the water toys; we were given water guns, water balloons, a slip-and-slide and a hose to ensure we could use everything that was given to us.”

Henry says her children have enjoyed the items they received because the activities are geared to each child’s interests and hobbies. The family-oriented games have also been popular along with snacks “which always make my kids happy,” she adds.

According to Deleary, COTTFN children are “coping quite well” during the pandemic and families are reaching out “when they need that extra support.”

In the beginning, kids were missing friends and missing the connection with their teachers, and that was the motivation to start the roadside help, she says. Her team started reaching out through Facebook, setting up a support page.  A gardening initiative, providing seeds and garden boxes for on-territory members, started in April in partnership with other departments, hoping that growing fresh food would keep members from “going out to the stores too much and knowing if we go into a second wave that might help in terms of food security,” Deleary explains.

Angie Henry, who works at Antler River School where her children attend, said it was “very challenging” trying to accommodate her five kids doing online learning.

“It didn’t happen every day,” she readily admits but feels she was lucky to be able to stay home with them.

Henry usually runs a summer children’s camp in COTTFN, with her older children acting as volunteers, but that will not be taking place this year.

With usually 25 children in the community camp, Tammy Deleary hopes the summer games and activities her workers are handing out will help fill a gap for families like Angie Henry’s.

“We’re hoping children get a positive experience and we are letting them know we are here for them,” says Deleary.

She thinks many kids are not getting away from their homes very much, even though things are opening up more.

“Some of the parents just don’t want to take their kids out shopping anymore,” she has noticed.

Another new program for this summer is a walking contest on the school track. Families can sign up and record their walking times in the evenings, and prizes will be offered for different age groups.

“People can walk when it’s cool enough, at your own pace.  “We hope that will help with mental wellbeing and getting the kids out,” she says.