CAELLUM
Lee Cowan personally knows the struggle of a blue collar boom and bust economy.
“About five years ago I had the typical Alberta story, bankruptcy and a family separation.”
As a newly single dad with a demanding career as an electrician in the oilfield, Lee had a difficult task: find time to raise his two boys and provide crucial after school care while simultaneously managing an unforgiving trades work schedule and career transition.
“Home for a week, gone for a bunch, I couldn't do that as a single dad.”
That’s when Free Play for Kids entered the picture for the Cowan family. Typically, kids at Free Play are refugees, newcomers or Indigenous youth. WIth a trade background and deeper local family roots, Lee and his sons Felix and Caellum are a unique family in our community.
Extracurriculars have always been crucial for Lee to provide opportunities for his kids' development, but the pay to play model of most local sports and the high cost of childcare place a burden on him and countless families that can’t afford to jump over barriers.
“I’m not going to lie, Free Play was a huge huge help in this whole process.”
“There was a time where we were living off shoe laces, I couldn’t afford any of the extracurricular programs and here was a free program and the kids loved it.”
With flexible attendance and hours, school pickup and dropoff, and diverse programs, Free Play made the difference Lee needed to broaden the horizon of opportunities for his kids.
Caellum, Lee’s older son, loves video games so sports at Free Play provide a much needed contrast to the typical steady stream of screen time after school time.
“I’m seeing [Caellum] engage in sports in a way that I hadn’t really seen before… I was surprised by how engaged he was getting in sports.”
Lee’s youngest son Felix has an early and deep passion for cooking that’s set him on the path to be a chef when he grows up. Weekly Free Play food sessions give Felix a safe space to hone his cooking skills with fresh free food and program staff support.
“A food bag comes home and [Felix] says I’m making supper tonight dad and it’s fun… I like that [Free Play] engages multiple interests.”
Now that Caellum is rolling into grade five, Lee is excited because his son can soon participate in Free Play’s Pathways to Leadership program.
Lee knows how important it is for kids to have something to hold onto, especially as his sons get older.
“For me, besides being interesting for kids, it’s really really important for kids to have those social anchors as they hit those more difficult pre-teen and teenage years.”
The leadership program is an ongoing opportunity for older Free Play kids to learn a number of skills combined with real work experience as a referee or coach for programs leaders once benefited from. Youth even get paid for their time.
“It’s really cool that it’s not just hitting a couple of important needs for us now, but that it’s something that they can build off.”
“I’m really grateful that something fell on my lap through the school that the boys can use, take and grow with and have that experience.”
