City chips in $580k to help consolidate child care centers in East Dayton

May 30—Dayton is pitching in more than $580,000 to help consolidate at least four child care centers in East Dayton into a brand new facility.

Miami Valley Child Development Centers plans to spend more than $11 million to construct a new child care facility on the vacant, former site of Lincoln School, located on the 400 block of Nassau Street in the Twin Towers neighborhood.

The new Lincoln Hill Child and Family Center will serve residents whose incomes do not exceed 80% of the area median income, according to city documents.

Children in parts of East Dayton have lower enrollment in high-quality preschool programs that in other parts of the city, and officials say this project should help improve access to quality care.

"One of the things that Preschool Promise certainly has identified through their data collection is the need for more seats in East Dayton, particularly," said Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein. "We're excited to support this child care center opportunity."

The Dayton City Commission has authorized the city to enter into an agreement with Miami Valley Child Development Centers (MVCDC) to give the organization some of its federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.

The child care center project won CDBG funds through a competitive award process, and the new facility will have the capacity to serve 250 children, at least 90% of whom will meet the federal poverty guidelines, according to a memo from Todd Kinskey, Dayton's director of planning, neighborhoods and development.

The 30,000-square-foot facility will have 14 classrooms, office space, community training space and a full-service commercial kitchen, the memo states.

During non-school hours, the kitchen will help improve food security in the local area with services like cooking classes and nutritional support.

The project will expand early childhood services in the area, which has challenges with elevated levels of unemployment, crime, poverty and food insecurity, the memo says.

___

(c)2022 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)

Visit the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) at www.daytondailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.