MUSKEGON, MI – Plans are underway to open an affordable community childcare center in Muskegon.
The Muskegon YMCA, Goodwill Industries of West Michigan and United Way of the Lakeshore are collaborating to open the Y Learning Center in the spring of 2021.
Gabrielle Gerlach is leading the project for the YMCA. She said the “community-wide effort” was born out of looking at some of the barriers Muskegon County residents face in going back to work.
“The number one area of need that was identified was childcare,” she said.
The childcare facility will target ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained and Employed) households—families whose income is above the poverty level but falls short on the cost of living. A 2019 United Way report found 45% of Muskegon County residents are living in poverty or ALICE.
“There’s a lot of families that have to make really difficult decisions about going back to work,” Gerlach said.
Related: Majority of Michigan families with children have lost income during coronavirus crisis
Kathy Seals, childcare coordinator with United Way, says the significant cost of childcare is a hurdle for working families in Muskegon. A facility like this would be “an asset for our community,” she said.
The average cost of care for an infant in Muskegon County is more than $8,300 and about $7,600 for a 4-year-old, according to an analysis from Child Care Aware.
Discussion on starting the childcare facility began in February with plans to open it in the fall of 2021. But the COVID-19 pandemic heightened the necessity for affordable childcare.
“The community asked us to try to ramp up our timeline, if at all possible, because the need for childcare is still really prevalent in the area,” Gerlach said.
One of the main needs is childcare for infants and toddlers that is centrally located, Seals said.
The project is still in the “preliminary stage,” but Gerlach is coordinating plans to renovate a wing of Covenant Academy, the former McLaughlin Elementary School, at 125 Catherine Ave.
One of Goodwill’s empty warehouses was considered for the facility, but the redevelopment costs were too steep. Seals said using space at Covenant Academy “makes sense” because the building is a school and it has already been licensed for childcare.
“There’s still quite a few things we want to do,” Gerlach said. “Because it’s going to be a premier center.”
Initial plans include partnering with area businesses to furnish the facility and building a fenced in outdoor play area.
A $60,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Muskegon and donor support are helping with the startup costs, Gerlach said.
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December 26, 2020 at 01:00AM
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