A proposed new Northeast Iowa Child Care and Discover Center has gotten a boost

WCDT Executive Director Stephanie Fromm says her group has been exploring development of a new child care facility for several months in response to the shortage of child care in Winneshiek County and Northeast Iowa.  She says existing day care facilities have reported long waiting lists and, as regulations have increased, several in-home day care providers in the county have closed their businesses.

The USDA grant will match us up to $64,500 for this initial phase of the child care project.  Supporters of the new child care center have already matched a good deal of that amount through some private donations, but will be seeking additional donations in order to qualify for using all of the $64,500..

Fromm said, "We understand and support our existing child care facilities. In fact, development of the new facility is just one strategy we are working on to meet the need and strengthen our workforce. WCDT recognizes that we can't solve every aspect of the problem, but we do believe that we can turn the challenges we have into opportunities. To do that, we will implement a multi-faceted approach that considers children first, recognizes that different families will select different types of child care options for their children, and maximizes local resources to benefit as many children as possible."