Tell us about your organization and what makes you stand out as an employer?
OBLT is a charitable not-for-profit society with a dedicated and wonderful volunteer Board of Directors as well as an amazing, creative and dedicated team of employees and volunteers.
We currently provide the following services:
StrongStart BC: We provide a StrongStart program in Qualicum Beach and Parksville as well as an outreach StrongStart program called the ‘Words on Wheels Bus’ (aka WOW Bus).
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- Our Parksville and Qualicum StrongStarts are called Munchkinlands.
- Storbook Village (located on the grounds of Qualicum Commons) is program that provides an opportunity for us to partner with our local family services and provide fun and imaginative play opportunities for children and their caregivers. Storybook Village is an outdoor child sized village with little buildings to explore and a circuit roadway for bikes/trikes. This program focuses on physical literacy and outdoor fun.
- StrongStarts are funded by the government of BC.
Arrowview Kids Club Child Care: We have a child care centre located on the grounds of Arrowview Elementary where we provide Group Child Care programs and a School Age Care program.
Technology Learning Centre/ TLC2Go: We provide tech tutoring and tech support programs for seniors. This service is provided via online, in our tech tutoring lab and via outreach.
Saturday Breakfast Club: Saturday Breakfast Club provides an opportunity for families and their children to connect and to enjoy a nutritious meal together. These sessions are held on Saturday mornings. This free program brings together the joy of food, play, stories and song and explores food literacy as well.
Books for Babes:
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- Books for Babes was born in February 2002 and have been delivered to over 3,000 families in Oceanside when they have a newborn. Island Health, Regional District of Nanaimo, Oceanside BLT and community volunteers join together to present a special gift for new parents: a bag lovingly hand-made, with a book or two and community resources inside. These bags are delivered by Public Health Nurses on their home visit to parents and new babies.
- Why do we do this? Researchers tell us that a critical time for learning is between birth and 3 years of age. Early quality experiences help to determine how a baby’s brain develops.
What makes OBLT stand out as an employer is our dedication to working with our staff to create a healthy work life balance. We recognize the individual strengths of our employees and work hard to ensure that our employees are valued and honoured for those strengths. With the many facets of our programs, we are in a unique position as an organization to provide employees with multiple opportunities to develop and create new programs as well as opportunities to enhance our current programs with their unique talents, skills and experience with the ultimate goal of increasing the quality of services we provide to the community.
How many employees do you have?
Fourteen (14)
What do you look for in a new employee?
Patient, fun, kind, flexible, energetic and on a life-long path of learning. We also look for employees who are driven to make a difference in the lives of our community members.
What advice would you give someone who wants to work for your organization?
Please read our website to gain a solid understanding of all the services we provide. We place a high value on team work and look for the individual strengths each person brings to the team so a willingness to be flexible and a willingness to let your light shine is important.
Do you anticipate hiring in the next 6 months? If so, for what types of positions?
We are currently hiring for our StrongStart program as well as our Arrowview Kids Club program. Both positions require an ECE diploma (or certificate) or equivalent. We are also hiring for our ‘Saturday Breakfast Club’ program
What is the best way for someone to apply if they are interested in working for your organization?
- For our position at Arrowview Kids Club Child Care, contact Elizabeth Nardi, AKC Child Care Manager: enardi@sd69.bc.ca
- For our StrongStart position, contact Karen Dziedzic, StrongStart Lead Facilitator: kdziedzic@sd69.bc.ca
- For our Saturday Breakfast Club position, contact Scott Beam, OBLT Manager: sbeam@sd69.bc.ca
