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Supervisors agree to sponsor grant application for child care center project
By Laura Bacon, NT Staff Writer
Hal Gronewold, representing Southwest Iowa Family Services (SWIFS), asked the Cass County Supervisors on Wednesday to help with a project to build a new child care center in Atlantic by serving as a pass through agency for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for the center.
The supervisors voted to be the sponsor for the CDBG grant, with Supervisor Dave Dunfee abstaining.
Gronewold said the group was trying to build a day care center that can accommodate up to 100 kids and noted that his group had been talking to the Atlantic Community School District about the project and providing a site for the center. He said partnering with the school district could result in some savings due to cost sharing in the future.
He said the group had also talked to officials with Headstart, “and I think they’ll agree to partner with us,” he said. With about 40-50 kids currently in Headstart, moving them to the new childcare center would leave room for about 40-60 additional kids.
Gronewold said the facility was needed because Atlantic was behind other similarly sized communities in terms of child care services.
“We don’t have another day care center besides Headstart that’s not in an old house,” he said.
The group started working on the project a year ago, and had hired Iowa State to do a survey on childcare needs in Atlantic.
He said they intended to apply for a grant last fall, but survey results were delayed. Now, he said the first step was applying for the $600,000 CDBG grant.
“We need a local government to sponsor or support us in that grant application,” he told the supervisors, explaining the county would be a “flow through,” for funds to come in from.
Supervisor Chair Chuck Rieken asked if the city was also going to sign off on the project.
Gronewold said his group “decided not to ask the city,” saying city officials “had too much on their plate,” adding they preferred to have the county be the sponsor.
Rieken also asked if the program could be expanded to other county communities in the future.
Gronewold said that one thing that could be a problem was transportation, but that “could entail creating a transportation link.”
He said the project had “the support of existing providers,” and noted that included most of the home care providers in the area.
Kinen also had concerns about the center’s ability to support itself asking if there would be income to support the center.
Gronewold said, “user fees would probably not be enough” to keep the center open, and said grants and donations could be used to fill the gaps.
COMMENTS ON THESE STORIES ARE WELCOME, BUT FULL NAMES AND PHONE NUMBERS MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE POSTING FOR VERIFICATION, BEFORE THEY WILL BE RUN. PHONE NUMBERS WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED. THANK YOU.
The supervisors voted to be the sponsor for the CDBG grant, with Supervisor Dave Dunfee abstaining.
Gronewold said the group was trying to build a day care center that can accommodate up to 100 kids and noted that his group had been talking to the Atlantic Community School District about the project and providing a site for the center. He said partnering with the school district could result in some savings due to cost sharing in the future.
He said the group had also talked to officials with Headstart, “and I think they’ll agree to partner with us,” he said. With about 40-50 kids currently in Headstart, moving them to the new childcare center would leave room for about 40-60 additional kids.
Gronewold said the facility was needed because Atlantic was behind other similarly sized communities in terms of child care services.
“We don’t have another day care center besides Headstart that’s not in an old house,” he said.
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He said they intended to apply for a grant last fall, but survey results were delayed. Now, he said the first step was applying for the $600,000 CDBG grant.
“We need a local government to sponsor or support us in that grant application,” he told the supervisors, explaining the county would be a “flow through,” for funds to come in from.
Supervisor Chair Chuck Rieken asked if the city was also going to sign off on the project.
Gronewold said his group “decided not to ask the city,” saying city officials “had too much on their plate,” adding they preferred to have the county be the sponsor.
Rieken also asked if the program could be expanded to other county communities in the future.
Gronewold said that one thing that could be a problem was transportation, but that “could entail creating a transportation link.”
He said the project had “the support of existing providers,” and noted that included most of the home care providers in the area.
Kinen also had concerns about the center’s ability to support itself asking if there would be income to support the center.
Gronewold said, “user fees would probably not be enough” to keep the center open, and said grants and donations could be used to fill the gaps.
COMMENTS ON THESE STORIES ARE WELCOME, BUT FULL NAMES AND PHONE NUMBERS MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE POSTING FOR VERIFICATION, BEFORE THEY WILL BE RUN. PHONE NUMBERS WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED. THANK YOU.
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