For Heaven’s Sake child care center to open soon in Washington

WASHINGTON - An idea more than 35 years in the making is finally coming to fruition at the First Assembly of God in Washington as they are inching closer to opening their new child care center, For Heaven's Sake.

Director Elizabeth Watson said her husband Dave Watson, the pastor at the church, was looking back through minutes and found discussions of a child care center. He brought the idea back to the church board and asked if this was still an avenue it was interested in pursuing.

Watson said the board informed them when the church was built, it intended for one wing to be a child care center, but never got the ball rolling. The more the Watson's looked into it, they learned there about a need for approximately 2,000 day care slots in Washington County and only 1,000 available.

'Our approval here that's pending for 23 is a small drop in the bucket for that, but it does continue to meet a need. If nothing else it can be encouragement to others to say it can be done,” she said.

Watson said all the paperwork has been submitted to the state and they are waiting on the final approval. Once approved, the center will be open for 23 children ages zero to three for both full time and part time care. She said the center will be able to take four infants and the 18 toddlers will be split into two classes of nine.

Watson said they are in the final stages of the process now and have begun hiring teachers and have started a waiting list for child care. The center will be open from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. five days a week with a prospective open date of mid-late November.

Getting ready to open the doors is nerve wracking, Watson said, but she is ready to get started. Down the line she hopes to see the center grow and turn into a preschool. For now, they will focus on serving who they can.

'We want to create a culture of ministry here and a culture of trusting in God and finding hope in the world. It's a great opportunity when they're younger to come and share with them at an early age. They may not have it at home or live in that environment, but they're hearing about it and it will stick with them,” she said.

Anyone with questions is encouraged to reach out to Watson by phone at 319-653-3749 or by email at 4hvns8kdirector@gmail.com. More information can be found on their Facebook page,