The parents of more than 50 children in Chestermere are scrambling to find child care after a local daycare closed its doors suddenly on Thursday.
On Wednesday, parents were told that Evolve Learning would close at the end of the month. But when they arrived to pick up their kids the next day, they were informed that the centre would be permanently closed at 6 p.m. that day.
The sudden closure has put staff out of a job and left parents waiting for refunds while also trying to secure other means of child care.
“I was just so angry,” said Krista Mainprize, whose son attended Evolve.” Our money came out on Tuesday and we found out Wednesday afternoon that our dayhome that was closing.”
Amber Griffin, the daycare’s former director, said she and the staff of Evolve found out about the closure during a Skype conversation with the centre’s owner, Latz Ahmed, currently in England. Ahmed also laid off several staff members during the same conversation. Griffin said Ahmed told her his multiple sclerosis had gotten to the point where he could no longer run the centre.
“He pulled in a few of my staff members, one after another, told them that they were done as of right there,” Griffin said. “Each of them stayed just to make sure that our kids were taken care of.”
Evolve Daycare Centre former director Amber Griffin was photographed outside the centre on November 6, 2015.
The next day, Griffin found out that Latz had pulled the centre’s licensing.
“I didn’t really know what to do,” she said. “We all banded together and picked up and moved.”
On Friday, staff from the centre had set up a temporary day camp at the rec centre in Chestermere.
“I’m trying to find us some funding to open the centre again,” Griffin said. There is only one other accredited daycare in the city.
“We’ve gotten tons of support from the community,” she added.
Parents have started to receive emails from Evolve informing them that they will receive a refund for November, but the financial strain is wearing on many of them.
Mainprize and another parent, Kym Mullen, were able to make arrangements for their kids at Brightpath, the other child care facility in Chestermere.
Kym Mullen, centre, plays with her three-year-old daughter Lea, right, and son Max, 5.
“Obviously, not everyone can do that,” Mullen said. “It’s pretty pricey. We still haven’t gotten our money back (from Evolve) and we’ve had to put payment down at the new daycare facility.”
“Everyone’s doing what they can to make sure the kids are okay,” Mullen continued. “The staff here have been phenomenal.”
The Herald has been unable to reach Evolve’s owner for comment.
With files from Colleen De Neve
