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Access to post-secondary education will become easier in the North Okanagan with the addition of a 100-bed student housing complex at Okanagan College.
A ceremony Friday celebrated work on the project, which will include the Sunflower Childcare Centre at the college's Kalamalka campus.
“This is a huge day for Okanagan College,” said Neil Fassina, campus president. “It will be the first student housing and childcare facility for our Vernon campus, which is going to enable our students to focus on what is important – and that is their learning.”
The housing and childcare facilities will take away “two of the major pressures that are going to prevent someone for someone wanting to pursue that education,” he said.
Housing at the college will benefit the entire community by helping to ease the regional housing crunch, Fassina added.
Former student and single mother Sarina Parsons said the childcare facility will be a game changer for other parents pursuing an education.
“It's extremely important. When you don't feel you can trust who your child is with, it completely takes your focus away from your studies. You are constantly worrying and trying to get back to them as soon as you can,” she said.
The daycare will be operated by Maven Lane, which currently operates a large facility in Vernon.
“I think it is going to open the door for a lot of other single parents,” said Parsons. “Being able to have a facility specifically for people going to school is going to empower those parents.”
A $1.25-million fundraising campaign was kicked off last year with a $500,000 donation from former college instructor Lloyd Davies and wife Janet Armstrong.
The project is slated for completion in 2024.
The Vernon campus project is one of three Okanagan College student housing projects in progress this spring.
Construction is well underway on a 216-bed project in Kelowna and is beginning on 60 new beds at OC’s Salmon Arm campus. The total cost of the three projects is $67.5 million, with the province investing $66.5 million.
The cost of integrating the Sunflower Childcare Centre into the Vernon project is $2.75 million, with $1.5 million coming from the province.
All three student housing projects will be open to students in the fall of 2024.
