The funds were approved during Wednesday’s Downtown Development Authority meeting, which brings the campaign closer to raising the $7.9 million needed to open the center. Organizers are about $800,000 shy of their goal. They are center operators YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids Public Schools, Head Start for Kent County and The Rapid.
“This project would be the first in the country to site an early childhood center in our central transit center, downtown Grand Rapids.”
Leslee Rohs is program manager for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which provided $3.5 million for the project.
“This project is unique in that it really is focused on a transit-oriented approach to childcare.”
Officials say in West Michigan there’s demand for over 20,000 additional early childhood education spaces, over 7,300 of those being needed in downtown Grand Rapids.
VP of youth development at the YMCA Dawne Bell says there are hundreds of families on a wait list for childcare at the Y.
“This is very real for families, and I know you all know that for working families, access to high-quality early care and ed is the top barrier to a parent being able to retain or go back to work.”
The center would have space for 100 children ages birth to five, as well as eight classrooms and rooftop and ground floor playgrounds.
You can see plans for the center here.
