Building Childcare in Ticonderoga
Childcare is a unique challenge in the North Country and all of rural America. Agencies and communities have been struggling for decades to find a way to build and sustain it. As with all the projects at Ti-Alliance we’re working to solve our childcare challenge the way we know how: by coming together with a creative community-wide effort to figure it out. And, we’re ecstatic to share that the Ticonderoga Community Early Learning Center, operated by Silver Bay YMCA, opened its doors to our community on September 3, 2024.
In April of 2022 Ti-Alliance convened the first meetings of the Ticonderoga Community Childcare Alliance Committee to explore the possibility of building a public childcare facility to support families and employers in our area. After over 18 months of planning, we implemented our plan. Along the way we built a “play book” for other towns to share our plans and learnings so that they might also mobilize their community to build something similar.
Project Details
- We surveyed our community.
- We distributed the Ticonderoga Area Childcare Survey to establish exactly what our childcare needs are and important information about how the lack of childcare affects families. CLICK HERE to see the data.
- We identified a facility.
- St. Mary’s School in Ticonderoga closed its doors in June 2023 after 65 wonderful years of operation. The parish couldn’t think of anything they would want more than to see the building full of children again and generously made it available for our childcare project.
- We made a construction plan.
- We coordinated with the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to identify the work required to make the St. Mary’s building conform to OCFS code.
- We created a business plan.
- This encompassed the construction, start-up operations, and 3-year operating plan for the childcare center, and we used it to secure funding for the project.
- We raised the funding.
- The Northern Border Regional Commission (federal) provided $248,000 for construction and some start-up costs. CLICK HERE for the news release.
- Local employers, private foundations, and individuals contributed an additional $175,000 toward start-up and operational costs. CLICK HERE for the list of grants and major donations. If you would like to contribute to sustainable childcare in our area, CLICK HERE to donate and specify “Childcare Fund” in the drop down menu.
- How we got started.
- We finalized engineering drawings and secured a contractor to begin work in November 2023 on the small number of changes required.
- We’re still staffing up.
- If you or someone you know would like to work in childcare, contact us.
We invite everyone in our community to be a part of the Ticonderoga Community Childcare Project. Click here for our donation page and specify “Childcare Fund” for your donation. Email our team at [email protected] with your ideas or for more ways to get involved. The Ticonderoga Community Early Learning Center is operated by Silver Bay YMCA. Learn more about our partners at Silver Bay on their website at: www.silverbay.org.
Childcare in the North Country
Rural America is often called a “childcare desert.”
according to a recent survey done by the Child Care Coordinating Council of the North Country
