Tag: Staff recognition

Yoko Tomita celebrates 20 years at CNH

Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH) proudly recognizes its long-serving staff members. At this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), CNH staff and contractors who have reached the milestones of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years of service to the neighbourhood house were thanked by the Board of Directors.

This year, we recognize and celebrate Yoko Tomita for 20 years of service. Here’s what Emily Rees, Director of Community Development, had to say about Yoko:

“Congratulations Yoko Tomita, Arts and Culture Manager. Yoko came to CNH as a Community member, volunteer, and mural art contractor. Over the past 20 years Yoko has contributed to and led projects to create murals, banners, mosaics, and shared her visual art skills with the community.

“Renfrew-Collingwood neighbours and CNH staff have become extended family to her, and that is why she loves working here. Yoko expressed, that it has always felt like a privilege to work at CNH and she has learned so much about serving community in order to create a better place to live. In fact, it is CNH’s privilege to have Yoko as part of the community and we have all learned so much from her.

“Yoko would like to thank January Wolodarsky, Andrea Berneckas, Paula Carr, Jennifer Gray-Grant and everyone in the Community Development Department, past and present for the endless support, friendship, and learnings.

Thank you, Yoko for all you have shared and taught us!”

For information about careers at CNH, visit www.cnh.bc.ca/about/careers.

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Top image: Yoko Tomita and her dog, Ginger.

December 1, 2022
National Day of Action for Child Care

Today, November 30^th, is a Canada-wide Day of Action for Child Care. As the Province moves forward with the implementation of their $10 a day Child Care BC plan, it’s important to recognize that quality, affordable child care cannot happen without the educators.

CNH will continue to be an advocate for professional wages and benefits based on a provincially funded wage grid because child care educators not only play a vital role in providing quality care and expansion of spaces, but they are essential in the education of young minds!

Visit https://youtu.be/FXNXxLadtJY to watch a video of four of our educators tell us why they chose the Early Childhood Educator (ECE) profession, what they love about their work, and what they are hopeful for, for the field of ECE.

We highlight the work of CNH’s amazing child care staff. Parents very kindly shared with us what their child’s educator means to their family and words of support for the ECE profession. These kudos are also being shared with our educators.

Some of our incredible child care staff

“I have found all ECEs to be kind, fair, great negotiators(!), caring, fun and respectful of our young ones. They encompass all the qualities a parent could ask for when entrusting them with the care of our precious children”

“Preschool teachers are exceptionally important in children’s lives, especially during their most impressionable years. They provide children with a support system, encouragement and build a great foundation for their future”

“I cannot overstate how much we appreciate the work that you all do in providing care and contributing to raising healthy and happy kids”

“The low level of pay available to these childcare workers versus the training they need and the precious people we put in their hands is greatly out of balance and I have seen firsthand where programs have lost AMAZING employees to better paying jobs”

“The bonds he has developed with these teachers and staff have allowed him to grow and develop into the wonderful toddler he is today. The staff are incredible, and always willing to learn how to adapt to our son’s needs.
The training, education, and continual improvement required to care for the diverse needs of all children requires a special person. Their contribution to the growth of our children is extremely valued and we are very thankful”

“They are all calm and honest, not passing judgment onto a parent or made to make them feel less. They are very understanding and honest and most of all friendly. All the staff that interact with C, are always smiling and seem genuinely to love their job. They always greet us with a smile every morning and even say goodbye after we leave. C is getting to be around people with good values and respect for one another. Plus, he really likes it I’m sure. Even if he does cry a bit when dropped off in mornings, ha-ha!”

“It’s a long day for my kids. It’s a profound relief, and a delight, to see them so excited to get to out-of-school care in the morning, and then always wanting “5 more minutes” when I pick them up at the end of the day. I know that they love this program because it’s a safe and enriching place for them to play”

“We value the educators at O’s daycare for providing genuine care and connection for all the little ones in their parents’ absence. I recall struggling when first sending him to daycare, and I was compassionately reassured that his needs would be met (including being held and hugged when pandemic measures encouraged social distancing)”“It takes a village to raise a child and that cannot be more true about the teachers at Terry Tayler. We couldn’t do it without their support, compassion, patience and care. They welcome us at every drop off and pick with a big smile no matter how well-behaved or difficult our child was that day. It is hard to be away from your child all day but knowing that our children are happy and well cared for at daycare makes a huge difference. Teachers are educating our future doctors, engineers, artists, business owners and so much more. That is a huge job and they deserve a fair wage!”

“We can’t express enough how grateful we are for the early childhood educators that teach and care for P. Knowing that she has a safe, stimulating, and nurturing environment to go to everyday allows us to have peace of mind. It allows us to focus on what we need to do to contribute to the health and vibrancy of our household and community. P loves going to daycare and we know she feels safe and nurtured by the committed educators who teach her. We are so lucky to have to have these amazing humans in our community! We have the utmost respect and appreciation for the skills, knowledge, capabilities and empathy of the early childhood educators at your centre. We believe that our current early childhood education system under compassionates those providing such an important service to our community and we strongly support fairer wages going forward. Quality, affordable childcare for all!”

“Please consider that those who are spending large amounts of the day, often more waking hours than their primary caregivers, provide not only a watchful eye, but are also our children’s first professional educators. They provide rich learning opportunities, while building our children’s confidence and ensuring they are cared for both physically and mentally”

“As a parent who’s benefited from the $10/day program, I can see how it has allowed our family to redirect the funds to other important areas in our life but this monetary benefit has not been experienced by the ECEs”

“Early education is so important to us – Teachers play such an important role in a child’s earliest years, when they’re just picking up the foundational elements of life, and aren’t able to (or need to) rely as much on friends and other students, like they can in later years.
It’s laying the foundation for their education – Daycare is about so much more than simply learning basic skills – Our kids learn critical social and emotional skills and a partnership is formed between the child, their parents and the teacher. When this is done successfully, it lays the groundwork for it to continue throughout the child’s education.
– They help lay the foundation for education and discovery, for the rest of a child’s life – for a successful future.
They bring expertise in children’s development – they specialize in working with children the age of ours. They are pros at assessing, observing, and documenting their development. They focus on the child’s strengths and adapt their environment to their needs and likes.
– We see them building a warm and positive relationships with our children – important to us because children need to feel safe and cared for. They also help the kids build positive relationships with other.
They teach them so many important life skills – cooperation, sharing, being creative, using their imagination… They create a welcoming environment for children to make them feel right at home. They have patience for our children. They help us understand what is going on with our children.It has been so great to see them socialize with people outside of our home and family – this has made them very social people, which we so appreciate! They don’t get scared around new faces or around large groups”

#childcaredayofaction #ecematters @10aday @ecebc1 @ccabc

November 30, 2022
Long-time staff Maria Nombrado shares her inspiration for spending 25 years at CNH
Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH) proudly recognizes its long-serving staff members. At this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), CNH staff and contractors who have reached the milestones of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years of service to the neighbourhood house were thanked by the Board of Directors.

This year, we recognize and celebrate Maria Nombrado for 25 years of service. Here’s what Flamingo Xie, Financial Controller, had to say about Maria:

“25 years is a quarter of a century, half of Maria’s lifetime. Her glasses are getting thick and she might need anti-wrinkle cream in the future, but she still looks great in her colleagues’ eyes.

“Maria started work as an office volunteer and a paid computer lab volunteer at CNH. After working in our administration and accounting office, she landed her current role as Accounting Manager. I asked her the reason she has worked at CNH for 25 years. This is what she said:
1. 1. Commendations for her hard work. Maria said she used to be very emotional when her former supervisor verbally appreciated her work. Other Directors at CNH also appreciated Maria’s dedication. Those recognitions boost Maria’s self-esteem and confidence.
2. 2. Her family. Secondly, Maria’s said the love and support of her husband and her two sons, Skye and Edrick, are what keep her going.
3. 3. What CNH stands for. The last one is because of our organization. Maria feels we offer excellent services in the community and excellent recreation programs for all ages. She also appreciates the environment at CNH which she describes as multicultural and family-oriented. As a staff member, she also feels CNH fosters positive employer-employee relationships.
“Maria said she is happy to say that CNH is where she would like to work until her hair turns gray. Thank you, Maria, for 25 years of hard work and dedication. Thank you for making each day of work something we can all be proud of.”

For information about careers at CNH, visit www.cnh.bc.ca/about/careers.

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Top image: Maria Nombrado at CNH’s AGM on Sept. 28, 2022.
November 22, 2022
An ‘asset’ to CNH operations: Qasim Ahmadi celebrates 25-year milestone

Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH) proudly recognizes its long-serving staff members. At this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), CNH staff and contractors who have reached the milestones of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years of service to the neighbourhood house were thanked by the Board of Directors.

This year, we recognize and celebrate Qasim Ahmadi for 25 years of service. Here’s what Kulwant Kaur, Director of Operations, had to say about Qasim:

“Qasim started working at CNH as a Building Services Worker in 1997. After only a couple of months, he was promoted to the position of Facility Coordinator. His electrical engineering education, previous work experience and extensive experience in facility management has helped him in overseeing CNH’s buildings – five stand-alone sites and six child care programs at local schools. Qasim has many skills! His attention to detail, meeting all deadlines and ensuring all work requests are completed in a timely manner, are much appreciated.

“Qasim has also always tried his best to save CNH money by doing a lot of the minor repairs and maintenance work himself. He only calls an external contractor for major repairs. Qasim oversees 11 custodians and he is a very generous and compassionate supervisor. Further, every year without fail, he handwrites Christmas cards for the CNH staff. And when we were able to hold potlucks before COVID, he brought the most delicious rice, Kabuli pulao, to staff meetings. He also enjoys running around Central Park and having BBQs with family and friends. He also loves to go sightseeing with his wife Lilah of 30 years.

“Qasim is a dedicated and hardworking staff member, and is truly an asset to the Operations team and CNH. It’s been a pleasure to work with him! Congratulations and thank you, Qasim.”

For information about careers at CNH, visit www.cnh.bc.ca/about/careers.

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Top image: Qasim Ahmadi at CNH’s AGM on Sept. 28, 2022.

November 15, 2022
25 years of ‘Tetris:’ Nelly Yep celebrates a milestone at CNH

Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH) proudly recognizes its long-serving staff members. At this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), CNH staff and contractors who have reached the milestones of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years of service to the neighbourhood house were thanked by the Board of Directors.

This year, we recognize and celebrate Nelly Yep for 25 years of service. Here’s what Jenny Eng-Chan, Reception Manager, had to say about Nelly:

“Nelly is our internal booking clerk who keeps CNH’s Main House and Annex running smoothly by scheduling programs and events in their correct timeslot. It is similar to playing Tetris on the computer. What a fun job you would think but this wasn’t always the case as the internal booking process has come a long way over the last 25 years. Back in the ‘old’ days, booking was comprised of a stack of photocopied pages bound together by metal prongs and protected by a plastic blue cover page. Hence, we named it the blue book or our CNH bible. It felt like Nelly was book-binding every six months. Nelly would enter the bookings manually into each day; on each page and sometimes this required a lot of cutting and pasting. Fast forward to today and thank goodness for technology, the blue book has retired.

“Over the years, Reception has gone through changes. Our furniture has been replaced and the blue book is gone but there is always one constant: Nelly’s attitude toward her work and her co-workers. She has continued to be a helpful and kind person who will always greet you by name. As I haven’t seen her grumpy or negative, I often wondered what the underlying secret to her being so happy and pleasant is. So, I decided to do some detective work and look for clues in her daily rituals. The first thing that I noticed was that she doesn’t eat breakfast and that she loves her veggies but I didn’t think this was ‘the secret.’ There must be something that she does that other people don’t! Then the ‘aha’ moment struck. It must be the two shots of concentrated lemon juice that she always requests at the tea shop when she orders her drink (and she requests this with no sugar). The saying ‘you are what you eat’ doesn’t apply here because Nelly definitely does not exhibit sourness. Rather, she has a sweet and bright disposition.

“So that’s her secret I suppose? If that is the case, the morning coffee may have to switch out for Nelly’s lemon elixir. Congratulations, Nelly, on your 25th anniversary of playing room-booking Tetris at CNH!”

For information about careers at CNH, visit www.cnh.bc.ca/about/careers.

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Top image: Nelly Yep at CNH’s AGM on Sept. 28, 2022.

November 8, 2022
CNH: A place of family and home for long-time staff member Sabrina Bantog

Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH) proudly recognizes its long-serving staff members. At this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), CNH staff and contractors who have reached the milestones of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years of service to the neighbourhood house were thanked by the Board of Directors.

This year, we recognize and celebrate Sabrina Bantog for 25 years of service. Here’s what Alison Merton, Director of the Early Years, had to say about Sabrina:

“I have been fortunate to work with Sabrina since 1996.

“Sabrina grew up in Vancouver. She attended Langara College to study Early Childhood Education. In 1996, Sabrina began working in Family Place at CNH and did casual work in child care before securing a position in the infant and toddler program. She then quickly moved into management roles within the child care department first in Kindercare, Collingwood Early Learning and Care Centre, and then she became the manager that opened the Terry Tayler Early Learning and Care Centre in the fall of 2012.

“Sabrina’s current role is as a Child Care Manager which requires her to deal with all human resources (HR)-related tasks for the child care staff team, which is quite the task given the amount of staff we have.

“We are so extremely fortunate to have Sabrina’s expertise in HR at CNH. She is kind, compassionate, and always goes above and beyond. She is very well respected by everyone. Sabrina puts the ‘human’ in human resources! She has represented CNH at CUPE and also at many Early Childhood Educator events. She continuously seeks out professional development opportunities and is currently doing courses in HR at BCIT.

“Sabrina says CNH is her home. She felt like she grew up at Collingwood, making many relationships. She has always felt supported and has had many opportunities to learn, grow and advance. She says CNH feels like family. This is likely because her husband Jaime also once worked at CNH and both her children, Alissa and Kyle, attended our child care programs! It’s not unusual to see Kyle here in Friday’s youth program or to see Sabrina’s mom hanging out in the seniors’ programs.

“Sabrina says there are many memories that make her smile, reflecting back. What stands out the most is the trip to Italy to visit the Reggio Emilia programs at their source with her peers and the management team. She will be forever grateful for that opportunity, definitely not something she would have been able to do on her own and it was most meaningful to be able to do this with colleagues.

“She would like to acknowledge all of the wonderful people she has had the pleasure of getting to know over the years. Her continued commitment to CNH, the Early Years department and the Early Childhood Education profession is outstanding. Thank you, Sabrina, for your many years of service and congratulations.”

For information about careers at CNH, visit www.cnh.bc.ca/about/careers. Learn more about family and child care programs at www.cnh.bc.ca/family.

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Top image: Sabrina Bantog at this year’s AGM at the CNH Annex.

November 1, 2022
Child care staff member Maliha Hassan celebrates 25 years at CNH

Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH) proudly recognizes its long-serving staff members. At this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), CNH staff and contractors who have reached the milestones of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years of service to the neighbourhood house were thanked by the Board of Directors.

This year, we recognize and celebrate Maliha Hassan for 25 years of service. Here’s what Diana Taykandy, Operations Child Care Program Coordinator, had to say about Maliha:

“Maliha Hassan is celebrating her 25 years as a child care staff for CNH. She began her journey on March 19, 1997, when I hired her for a maternity leave position at Sarah House Early Learning and Care Centre. Not too long after she started working, a permanent position became available at Duke Street Early Learning and Care Centre, where she was hired. Maliha worked for four years at Duke Street and when a posting came out for a position at Sarah House, she decided to apply for the position and was hired back at Sarah House. Maliha has been there ever since!

“Maliha truly loves working for Collingwood. She enjoys her Sarah House co-workers, families, and especially the children. She truly loves the children! She has always been a huge support to the program and has also worked there as a manager temporarily. Thank you for always thinking of the program’s needs and always being willing to help in whatever way you can.

“Collingwood means the world to Maliha. She always refers to her workplace as a second home. She couldn’t imagine working anywhere else. She has such a strong, unexplained connection to Collingwood, always letting us know that CNH is her heart.

“Maliha’s favorite work-related memory is actually how she came to name her second child. When Maliha had to go on maternity leave, she promised the manager and staff that she would return, and as a sincere gesture and of course, love for the program, she named her daughter Sarah.

“Maliha fills her days with her passion for shopping, hiking, biking, and traveling. She loves to entertain her co-workers in her home, including celebrations with food and music, and just making connections.

“Staff that know her well and who have worked with her for many years will all tell you that Maliha is kind, generous, patient, and always willing to support you. She is so wonderful with the children and their families and is always making them feel welcome. Maliha has a special way of making anyone who comes into contact with her feel special.

“I know that I have always felt her warmth whenever I have visited her in the program. Thank you for always making me feel welcome.

“Collingwood is very fortunate to have someone like her who cares so deeply about the organization. Thank you Maliha, and many congratulations on this milestone!”

For information about careers at CNH, visit www.cnh.bc.ca/about/careers. Learn more about family and child care programs at www.cnh.bc.ca/family.

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Top image: Maliha Hassan (centre) with fellow child care staff members Sabrina Bantog (left) and Diana Taykandy at CNH’s AGM on Sept. 28, 2022.

October 25, 2022
Celebrating CNH’s Staff – Youth Services Department

We are so grateful to every single CNH staff member for all that they have done during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been extraordinarily flexible and creative and have done everything possible to keep their colleagues and our participants safe and healthy. They have created new programming, to meet needs that emerged during the pandemic, they’ve trained new volunteers, who stepped forward to help out, and they have been very supportive of one another. We are so grateful to have such a professional, compassionate, hard-working team. We are grateful to every single person on our staff. Thank you! Today we celebrate the staff of the Youth Services department.

Brendan T

Colton Q

Derrick C

Eileen T

Jennifer L

Ry F

Sanjeev K

Sylvia M

Tanya F

Not photographed: Verna Kate S

March 24, 2022
Celebrating CNH’s Staff – RISE Community Health Centre

We are so grateful to every single CNH staff member for all that they have done during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been extraordinarily flexible and creative and have done everything possible to keep their colleagues and our participants safe and healthy. They have created new programming, to meet needs that emerged during the pandemic, they’ve trained new volunteers, who stepped forward to help out, and they have been very supportive of one another. We are so grateful to have such a professional, compassionate, hard-working team. We are grateful to every single person on our staff. Thank you! Today we celebrate the staff of the RISE Community Health Centre.

Aiyanas O

Anahita S

Ashleigh E

Ashu M

Bi L

Cherlyn C

Deepika S

Gabi P

Grace A

Hedi C

James K-W

Jennie W

Kailyn M

Keane L

Kelvin B

Kiran M

Maria M

Mik T

Monique W

Munira R

Rani W

Ruth E

Sandra B

Shila A

Sonja R

Stephanie L

Tharunamaya A

Vanessa M

Not photographed: Jane A, Johanka M, Shianne E

March 23, 2022
Celebrating CNH’s Staff – Operations Department

We are so grateful to every single CNH staff member for all that they have done during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been extraordinarily flexible and creative and have done everything possible to keep their colleagues and our participants safe and healthy. They have created new programming, to meet needs that emerged during the pandemic, they’ve trained new volunteers, who stepped forward to help out, and they have been very supportive of one another. We are so grateful to have such a professional, compassionate, hard-working team. We are grateful to every single person on our staff. Thank you! Today we celebrate the staff of the Operations department.

Airam S

Ali H

Antonio D

Benji B

Candice L

Conrado M

Crecien B

David L

Elisa C

Elizabeth R

Elson H

Flamingo X

Francisco D

George V

Irene M

Jennifer G-G

Jenny E-C

Jodi W

Juanito D

Karla C

Kayla I

Kulwant K

Maria N

Nelly Y

Nikita B

Philomena C

Qasim A

Rebecca W

Reynato T

Sandra M

Sarika G

Satomi A

Sheri P

Yndira A

Zaldy F

Not photographed: Teresa H, Thomas T

March 22, 2022