The organization is part of the Head Start program, a federal program that supports children’s education from six weeks to age five, and before a student would typically go to kindergarten.
The center expects to be able to serve up to 250 children from the surrounding neighborhoods with 14 classrooms, 30,000 square feet of space, gardens and a kitchen where the kids can learn to cook alongside basic math and literacy skills.
MVCDC will be partnering with the Mission of Mary Coopertive, East End Community Services and the University of Dayton to provide services when the center opens.
MVCDC chief executive director Berta Velilla said the new center could dramatically change the lives of the people in the neighborhood.
“For many families it can be a lifeline,” she said of MVCDC’s work. “Some of our families have broken relationships with other family members. Their support network is maybe not as strong. So we can be part of that support network.”
East End Community Services executive director Jan Lepore-Jentleson said the project would be a game-changer for the people who live in the east end.
“It’s what we’ve been waiting for, to have a high-quality Head Start center,” she said.
Families qualify by making no more than the federal poverty guidelines. For a single mother with two kids, that means the family makes less than $25,000 per year.
Ohio’s minimum wage is $10.10, which works out to roughly $21,000 for an adult who works 40 hours a week.
The MVCDC already has a similar facility in West Dayton, but a center like this did not exist in East Dayton, Velilla said.
She added that East Dayton is underserved in the number of preschool and early childhood care centers available, though there are an estimated 2,300 children under the age of 5 in those neighborhoods.
David Feldmiller, the chair of the MVCDC board, said 90% of the families the center works with are working or going to school. MVCDC also works with families who have kids in foster care and who are experiencing homelessness.
“At MVCDC we like to say we are difference-makers, that we’re helping families achieve their hopes and dreams,” Feldmiller said. “I can’t imagine a more noble enterprise and calling.”
About the Author
