PROCARE Family Centre - Tiffany & Erin
PROCARE Family Centre
procarecentre.ca
78 Holland Ave
Ottawa, ON
K1Y 0X6
613-695-7762
Owners: Tiffany Drummond & Erin Choi
Photography: Marianne Rothbauer, Rothbauer Studio
Interview: Michael Irwin + Nikki Gillingham, Blue Whale Communications
You and your business partner Erin met working in childcare. What was it that sent you both on the path of starting your own?
We both have such passion for Early Childhood Education and loved working together, we saw a need in the market and got excited about opening our own facility to let our creative juices flow. We loved the idea of building a safe and supportive space for children and families.
What is the core idea behind PROCARE?
The core idea behind PROCARE was a centre that's inclusive, educational, FUN, safe, vibrant and supportive for children to blossom into their individual beings all while learning through a play base program.
PROCARE has some unique offerings like Date Night, Saturday Morning Play Group, Summer Camp and more. What is involved in these activities?
We want to extend our services to the community who may not require full-time child care such as Matinee Care (12-4pm) and Date Night (5-9pm) Every Saturday! This service includes a craft, circle time, outdoor play, food made by our chef onsite and group games. Parents can use this service to go out on a date, stay in the comfort of their own home to simply relax Childfree, get errands done, meet up with friends or tackle some pilled up work.
Saturday morning we've partnered with 123 Petit Pas who runs a wonderful french Circle and playgroup for a 8 week session. This way parents are part of a Saturday morning group where it's a fun way for children learn the french language through songs and play. Refer to our website for Class times, 3 options.
We offer P.D.Day for parents who only require care for their school age children on P.D.Days throughout the school year, and camps during school Closures - March break and Summer Camp. Our counsellor plans a daily program that match our themes to keep the kids engaged and enjoying their time with us!
PROCARE also offers workshops for parents and teachers on various topics - Behaviour, sensory play, introduction to daycare and other topics. These dates vary and are usually on Sundays.
When we visited PROCARE something cooking in the kitchen smelled delicious. Tell us about the food you provide the kids and families of PROCARE.
The food we provide is nutricious. Our chef plans a summer and winter menu that rotates on a 3 week cycle. All food is made onsite and majority is from Scratch. Deb is a wonderful Chef and we are very grateful to have her. She even gets the children involved in the menu planning to make the eating healthy food fun!
How does PROCARE support individuality?
We support individuality as each child is different naturally. We have to cater our teaching style and strategies to each child. We also celebrate worldly views so everyone feels welcomed into our space.
When you aren't busy with children, parents and running a business what do you do for fun?
I work at Algonquin College in the Early Childhood Education Program as a Field Placement supervisor and visit local Daycares to assess students on their placement. I also run Tiffany.D.Inspo which is parent and youth coaching, Lakehouse retreats or Lakehouse rentals. My beautiful Lakehouse is only 1.5 hours away from Ottawa and it's a beautiful piece of paradise to share with people and is totally suited for children, parents don't need to stress about packing for their getaway. When I'm not working, I love playing volleyball with my team every Wednesday night, weekly visits with my horse, training my rescue dog (which is an ongoing process) and spending time with my family!
Erin is a Mother to 2 incredible boys, she also spends her free time helping her family’s business, a chinese food restaurant called Chips and Dairy
When you were first starting PROCARE how long did it take for the renovations and preparing the space to get everything ready?
78 Holland is our 2nd location. The first centre that opened in 2011 and took 2 months to renovate the 1900 square feet. Our current location took 5 months to renovate. We added a large addition making the space close to 4,000 square feet. My dad Peter and my husband Conor took on this project through the family business 'PFL Construction' to make sure it was built right! Erin and myself were part of the whole build by painting walls, laying flooring and doing whatever job we could, We were also the designers of the centre which made this project so special and from our hearts.
I understand you have programming that supports the music and languages. Tell us about some of the partners you have with ProCare?
Besides 123 Petit Pas, we also partnered up with Lachance Music School who runs private music lessons on Sunday and group music class introducing children to rhythm, beats, and instruments.
Kid's say funny stuff sometimes, there are even books about it. Are you able to share the funniest quote from ProCare?
Kids are always saying funny things, we find ourselves laughing all the time. As for quotes. It’s hard for me to pick just one but some of my favourites include: "Just a little came out", "I go potty then you go potty, okay?", "Wow, belly is so big from dat food", "Me love the rain, but no wet" haha :)
There is a huge demand for childcare. Do you have plans to expand?
We do have plans to expand! We are just waiting for the right opportunity! We hope to have another centre open soon so stayed tuned.
