The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Head Start Center moving
New location is near Elyria’s Midway Mall
The Lorain County Community Action Agency announced at a community town hall on April 13 they would be moving their Head Start Center into a new location near Midway Mall.
The new location at 631 Griswold Road is the former home of Lorain County Adult Parole and will allow the organization to continue providing services.
The new location became available in February and President/CEO Jackie Boehnlein said they immediately identified it as an option for their Head Start services in Elyria.
“What we did not want to do was to reduce our programming by 172 children,” Boehnlein said.
“That would not have benefited anyone. We are excited that for all intents and purposes we are moving into a space that is pretty new.”
The new location will have six classrooms and after conducting some renovations
to the building which will bring the total up to nine when it is completed. Boehnlein also announced they would be opening a community hub at St. Agnes Church on Lake
Ave. to bring Head Start services to families with transportation challenges by appointment in addition to offering additional services to make Head Start as accessible as possible.
The organization also provides Head Start services in partnership with Elyria City Schools and has home-based offerings in addition to having two classrooms at their Cascade location
at Horizon Childrens Center at 233 Bond Street.
The organization had been under a summer deadline to vacate their present location at 1215 Middle Ave. which is scheduled to be demolished under the master plan for Elyria City Schools in preparation for the construction of a new elementary school.
After working with district superintendent Dr. Thomas Jama their deadline was extended to early autumn.
Boehnlein said they have been at their South Elyria location since 1992 and hopes to be able to return to the area in the future.
“It has been LCCAA’s privilege to maintain and operate out of the Hamilton school for several decades,” Boehnlein said in a statement.
“Through the years, the center has been the cornerstone of our services for Elyria and South Elyria. We remain committed to continuing to meet needs, help people, and change lives.”
According to the organization’s website, the Head Start program provides grants to local public and private non-profit and forprofit agencies to provide comprehensive child development services to economically disadvantaged children and families, with a special focus on helping preschoolers develop the early reading and math skills they need to be successful in school.
“What we did not want to do was to reduce our programming by 172 children” — Jackie Boehnlein, Lorain County Community Action Agency president and CEO