$8 Million State-of-the-Art Facility to Offer Affordable, Quality Care for Kids and Become a Hub for Teacher Development
By Sarah Mayle
As the Findlay Family YMCA nears completion of a new $8 million Early Learning Center, leaders are making progress in support of Hancock County’s families and its workforce – through greater access to quality childcare at the hand of exceptionally trained teachers.
Kari Redman, Findlay Family YMCA childcare development district director
“It’s not just childcare, it’s kids,” said Kari Redman, YMCA Childcare Development District Director. “If we support our children, as I believe this (community) collaborative and the YMCA is doing, we could really be that community that truly builds and sets up our workforce. We need to get people back to work. We must set our kids up for success in their own future careers, and providing high-quality programming is a very large part of this.”
Hancock County’s problem is not unique. A shortage of quality childcare is a widespread workforce concern in the U.S. that was exacerbated by the COVID19 pandemic. To address the problem locally, stakeholders first came together about 3 years ago to form the Hancock County Community Collaborative, which included the YMCA, other childcares, city and county officials, business leadership, Blanchard Valley Health System, the Community Foundation, the United Way of Hancock County, and others.
The collaborative identified our top barriers – the ability to find care and its cost – and found that for every child who had a spot in childcare, there were 10 on a waiting list. With the average annual cost of local childcare reaching nearly $10,000 per year, many households had to choose employment or their kids. Backed by its community survey and numbers supporting the need for childcare. The collaborative helped raise awareness of the need.
Stephanie Parsons, CEO of the Findlay Family YMCA
Stephanie Parsons, CEO of the YMCA, said they have worked toward reimagining the Y’s 50-plus-year-old Child Development Center for many years. Now, after raising $8 million in community support for its 20,500 square foot Early Learning Center, the YMCA is poised to offer:
- Greater childcare capacity,
- State-of-the-art facilities,
- Flexibility to change learning spaces to adapt to community needs,
- A continued curriculum of excellence, and, in time,
- Become a Center for Excellence in early childhood professional development.
Not only that, but all the YMCA’s childcare programs provide Ohio Department of Job and Family Services publicly funded childcare as an option for families.
“At all of our locations we offer publicly funded childcare,” Redman said. “Not all places in Hancock County utilize this or have it as an option, but all of our programs do. It’s important to us. The amount the childcare is subsidized is based on where a family falls on their income level, and then there’s a co-pay, determined by the state.”
Redman stands in what will be the high-security entrance area of the YMCA’s new ELC.
Quality Childcare and a Hub for Early Childhood Education – All in One Building
Construction of the ELC will be completed in late October and will be ready for kids to move in from the Y’s current facility, the Mary Brenner Child Development Center, in early November. The CDC building, located across the street from the Downtown YMCA on Lincoln Street, has served the community since the early 1980s and was formerly a Marathon Petroleum Corp. administration building. The new facility sits northwest of the YMCA, adjacent to the parking lot.
While the CDC served the community well, recently earning a State of Ohio Step Up to Quality Silver Award, the old building was restrictive in what could be offered under state-licensing requirements and had become cramped, Parsons said. Coupled with the need to accommodate more children, the community had outgrown the building.
Currently, there are 217 kids enrolled at the CDC. The new facility has the capacity for 320, and Redman plans to keep enrollment between 286-290 students based on best practices. The facility will offer care for infants through school-aged children, with after school programming up to age 11. The YMCA also offers childcare at the Early Learning Center at Corey Rawson for infant through age 11 as well as before and after school care; and YABSS (YMCA Before and After School Sessions) for kids aged kindergarten through fifth grade at select elementaries and supported by Findlay City Schools bussing. Childcare through the YMCA is available all year and all programs offer subsidized options. All programs still have space.
An ELC classroom, under construction.
The new ELC features three infant rooms, three toddler rooms (increased from two), and five preschool classrooms, each of which can serve more children than the old facility. Three classrooms will house school-aged children for before and after school programming. There is also an indoor playground, a sensory room, office areas, a nursing room, space for car seats and strollers, a high-security entrance area, an outdoor playground separated by age, and the piazza.
The piazza, a large, open, flexible space central to the building, will be home to wheeled, easily moveable furniture that can be cleared for activities or staged for professional development – conferences, classes or other programming.
“We are so excited about this space,” Redman said. “This is where we will have our Center for Excellence for professional development. It’s a large space we can use for anything we want for the kids during the day. We’ll be able to move all of the furniture out and store it away. But we will also be able to transform this area for speakers, classes, earning certifications, we hope in time to have classes on the weekends, it’s going to be an amazing space for teachers to learn.”
The ELC will employ about 40 teachers, which includes one or two assistants per classroom. The building will also house Redman’s office, the center director, the childcare administrator, two teacher mentors, and a part-time sensory support specialist.
The vision for the ELC to be a Center for Excellence originated with Paul Worstell. Worstell, currently serving on the Y’s Campaign Committee, has been involved with the YMCA as an organizer of the Black Swamp Golf Classic, a board member, and as interim CEO. Worstell said through grants awarded by the Hancock County Community Foundation during his CEO tenure, trainings were already being held at the Y’s current CDC. The YMCA’s goal was to be a hub for learning in the community – the new facility will greatly expand those capabilities.
“This went from being a dream, a vision, to part of larger project, and then the right move was made to sequence the projects, with this being built first,” Worstell said. “For this to become a reality is really exciting, it means so much to our family to see it happen, and I’m so proud of the people who had the will to see it through. It wasn’t easy. And the people in this community who believed in the mission, saw it with the same passion, and were incredibly generous in their donations…it is very inspiring.”
The Findlay YMCA is part of a network, the Ohio YMCA Child Care Alliance, that regularly meets to problem solve and share best practices. Parsons said it makes sense, given the network and their capabilities with staff, for the Findlay YMCA to take the lead, as a central hub for childcare professional development in the region.
“We’re focusing on quality and affordability, and we want to get people back into the workforce,” Parsons said. “But then you can do a 360, it’s also the teachers we’re trying to take care of, paying them more and supporting them in their career, so they can stay in the workforce and so that more people will be attracted to child development. We want to be that lifeline. We have the quality staff to help our region.”
Parsons and Redman said getting the ELC running smoothly will come first. Center for Excellence programming will be developed soon after.
Another view of an ELC classroom.
Almost Complete
While building an educational facility is not unique for ELC General Contractor, ACI Construction Co., the significance of what will take place inside is not lost on them. The project is under budget and will be completed on time.
“Being able to build the ELC is an accomplishment we pride ourselves on as a part of the community,” said Nathan Curtis, president of ACI. “Getting to team up with a local architect (RCM Architects) and the YMCA and to see that this comes to light and fruition for the county is pretty special. It does stay in the forefront of your mind, that you’re building this for the kids of the community and for our future.”
Redman walks from the Downtown YMCA over to the ELC “at least daily,” to see what new developments are coming along in the construction.
“It is so amazing,” Redman said. “I just keep visualizing exactly how everything is going to go. It’s a lot of responsibility, but great responsibility, to really make sure we’re ready for everything that’s happening. It’s busy – exciting – emotional.”
While she often visits the facility, checking on progress during the day, Parsons begins and ends her day with appreciation of what is to come.
“It’s how I start my day,” Parsons said. “I drive in, park my car and just sit there a few minutes and watch them work. And at the end of the day as I’m wrapping up, I walk out there and often I just sit in my car and look at it, it’s really happening. It’s beautiful, it’s amazing, and I cannot wait to see kids inside there on the first day.”
The YMCA is planning a community open house in the near future for the new ELC. Stay tuned to their social media for announcements.
For more information or to sign up:
Another view of the new YMCA’s new Early Learning Center.
