Mt. Pleasant child care center gets $183,000 grant from state

The Mt. Pleasant Childcare Center has received a $183,000 grant from the state of Iowa.

'We cannot thank the state of Iowa enough for making child care a priority,” Director of the Mt. Pleasant Childcare Center Amy McLaughlin said. 'This grant will allow us to increase our capacity from 45 to 70 children in our new location.”

The Child Care Challenge Grant was established to encourage and enable businesses, nonprofit organizations, and consortia to establish local child care facilities and increase the availability of quality, affordable child care for working Iowans.

With this grant, the Mt. Pleasant Childcare Center will be able to serve the community better by growing to accommodate more children.

Sarah Donnolly, president of the Mt. Pleasant Childcare Center board of directors, reminded the community that support still is needed, despite the grant.

'This is truly a community center, and while this grant definitely helps, we still need the financial support from businesses, groups, and individuals in Mt. Pleasant,” she said.

Mt. Pleasant has seen a noticeable lack of child care in the community. The city has 1,041 children under the age of 11 and only 201 registered child care seats. Over the past five years, there has been a 51 percent reduction in available child care for Mt. Pleasant.

Mt. Pleasant Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Kristi Ray hopes this child care center will help rectify that need.

'We're excited about this grant, and we can't wait for it to open later this year,” she said. 'This child care center is necessary for our community, and we can't thank the state of Iowa enough for investing in us.”

The Mt. Pleasant Community Childcare Center is a nonprofit organization. The Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance is assisting the child care center with this community project. Anyone interested in more information about the child care center should contact Director Amy McLaughlin via email amympchildcarecenter@gmail.com.