The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Charitable foundations save child care center
More than a babysitter: Gorman, Oneida Savings Bank Charitable foundations keep center’s doors open
ONEIDA » Oneida Area Day Care Center executive director Lena Froio saw dwindling attendance figures during the summer months, but hoped for the best as the newschool year started in September. But that drew even more children from their facility, making balancing their budget -- and paying all of their staff members -- a challenge that was quickly becoming impossible.
There were 97 children at the day care center at this time last year, Froio said. Now, there are just 68 today.
“We found out last week that we were no longer in the position to be able to fund the day care center’s enrollment,” Froio said Friday. “We were losing too many three- and four-year-olds to the school district, and with that decline we couldn’t make ends meet. We didn’t knowwhat to do. I was in tears.”
Just over a week ago, the center sent a notice to parents that their day care offerings were in peril because of the lack of funds. A follow-up message this past Tuesday was more dire. Because of the falling attendance and loss of income at the longtime day care provider, they would be forced to close their doors the following Friday, Oct. 20, the notice said.
Gorman Foundation president Amanda Larson was the recipient of those notices, as she has twin daughters at the Sayles Street day care center. She admitted she didn’t really pay much attention to the first letter, figuring it was just a way to pump up donation giving from the parents. The announcement of the impending closing immediately got her attention, however. Larson quickly was on the phone to her friend Rick Stickels of the Oneida Savings Bank Charitable Foundation, asking how the two benevolent orga- nizations could pool their resources and help out an agency that is such an important part of so many lives.
“I asked Rick, ‘What does all of this mean for our community?’” Larson explained. “Without the day care center, there is really nothing left to take its place. We both agreed we had to make this work.”
“We’re glad to be a part of this,” Stickels said. “This is two local foundations getting together to do something good for the whole community.”
Larson also contacted friends at the Gifford Foundation, who have been through similar situations in the past and could offer their own expert opinions on what approach might best help the day care center. They recommended a consultant who could come in, examine their financial workings, and make the center more profitable and self-sustaining. Larson said she was familiar with that consultant from working with her in the past, and agreed totally with their recommendation.
There was a meeting with Froio on Wednesday morning -one where she never asked for money, but presented some of her own ideas for keeping the day care center running, Larson noted -- and by the late afternoon Froio received the assurance from the benefactors that the doors would be able to stay open for some time to come.
“Amanda worked fast and
turned this right around,” Froio said.
Stickels said he was glad the two foundations could move quickly to address the matter. Their outreach to the day care center is a two-year strategic planning grant, part of which will pay for the consultant. They want to be able to develop a real plan for moving forward, he said, to keep the day care center open.
“I believe the services they provide the community and the working families are absolutely critical,” Stickels said. “It was very important for us both to support that.”
Oneida Area Day Care is way more than just a babysitter for children from Madison and Oneida Counties and beyond, Larson explained. Their care offers parents the chance to work, and parents who are out of work the chance to look for jobs during the day. Many of the children attending the center are from families who are on some kind of public assistance, so where would they be able to go if the facility closed, Larson wondered.
The children at the center not only have the chance to develop valuable socialization skills, but also get used to being in the environment very similar to what school will be like when they are a bit older. They have breakfast, lunch, and snacks there daily, enjoying nutritious meals.
The students aren’t the only ones who benefit, of course. There are also numerous local students who earn their accreditation for child care studies through their work at the facility. Then there are also 25 employees of the day care cen- ter, who suddenly found their own jobs threatened. The closing of the day care center would have damaging repercussions through- out the area, Larson decided.
“We need a day care center, period,” she said.
Larson stressed, however, this would not simply be an infusion of cash to pay some bills and then the benefactors would walk away. This will be a long-term investment and a partnership, Larson explained, to make sure this invaluable resource stays in the community for as long as possible. A strategic plan will be developed with the aid of the consultant to see where there are areas that could be tightened money-wise, while strengthening other areas that are already more profitable.
It will definitely be an ongoing project, Larson said.
“This is not about, ‘Let’s just give them some cash.’ This is about, ‘How can we help them survive forever?’” she explained.
Gorman Foundation board of directors chair Joanne Larson, her mom, complimented the way Amanda set right down on Wednesday to come up with a way to keep the day care center operational.
“I have to give Amanda a lot of credit for this -- she worked all day on making this happen,” Joanne said.
Froio said she is looking forward to the future once again at the Oneida Area Day Care Center, and admitted her position there is certainly more than just a job to her.
“I am just very, very grateful about this,” Froio added. “They are saving our family.”