South Central ECIP receives vehicle donated by the Moose Jaw CO-OP

 

The Early Childhood Intervention Program (ECIP) is a local non-profit organization that cares for families across south-central Saskatchewan.

ECIP provides a voluntary home visiting program for families of children birth to school age. The group assists children who experience varying degrees of difficulty in areas of development including movement, sight, hearing, communication, touch, and learning.

Catering to such a large area of the province, one vehicle simply isn't enough for the organization and they decided it was time to seek out another method of transportation for support workers. 

"What they put in a request for was a new vehicle. They do travel through rural Saskatchewan quite a bit." Explained Kathleen Kristoff, Member Relations Advisor for the Moose Jaw CO-OP.

"They needed something more reliable and something that fit their needs a bit better than what they're using currently. So we stepped up and said 'hey, we've got a vehicle for you'." 

"I didn't know what to say. I'm pretty sure my mouth hit the floor." Executive Director for ECIP, Nancy Rosnes recalled the moment. "I was speechless, I'm not very often speechless, but I was speechless."

ECIP offers all services and programming in the child's home and this additional vehicle will allow workers to visit more families in a timely fashion. Other local organizations are welcome to apply for donations throughout the year.

"How it works, is we have a caring for the community fund, which is our major donations, which is about $5,000 and up." Detailed Kristoff.

"All year round we're accepting donation requests for that fund (and) they're reviewed on a regular basis. ECIP had put in a donation request for it, and we reviewed it and approved it. So if there's any organizations looking for major donations in that way, they can put in a request for the caring for the community fund." 

Since 1983, ECIP has helped hundreds of kids reach their developmental goals and individual milestones.