HUMBOLDT — At The Growing Place, the number 39 seems significant.
Back in April, when Janie Works and crew decided to apply for a grant to expand the daycare and preschool center, it had a waiting list of 39.
That’s the same number of children the center cares for between birth to age 3.
And if things go according to plan, the expansion will provide another 39 new spots for early childhood education.
Ideal, right?
Except now, the center’s waiting list has grown to 55 for that age group.
“We thought this would take care of our waiting list but there’s still so much need,” Works said.
The Growing Place received a $1.162 million grant to build a nearly 6,000-square-foot expansion. The Child Care Capacity Accelerator grant is administered by the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund to create affordable and accessible child care throughout the state.
More than $43 million in grants for 52 organizations were announced last week. Nine of those are in southeast Kansas, including The Growing Place and Grow at Eden LLC, a Parsons-based daycare that recently purchased the former Kids Kingdom in Iola.
“There’s a child care crisis all over the nation. Kansas has really embraced the challenge,” Works said.
Works believes her center’s grant, which was prepared by Damaris Kunkler with A Bolder Humboldt and a team from The Growing Place, was successful mainly because their project is shovel-ready, including an architect’s drawing in hand.
Plus, the center has experience with adding onto their facility. The center opened in 2006. In 2009, a couple of rooms were added. In 2021, a 4,000-square-foot expansion that doubles as a community storm shelter and includes a 1,400 square foot recreation room was added.
Finally, Works has financial resources from her family’s business, B&W Trailer Hitches, that can meet the $400,000 or so matching funds required by the grant. She’s also looking for other financing options to help reduce the amount needed from B&W.
Many of the families that attend The Growing Place are B&W employees.
“B&W and the Works family have always been really good about making sure we have what we need,” Works said.
