ATLANTIC, Iowa (KMTV) — President of Vision Atlantic, Christina Bateman, says affordable childcare is among the greatest needs for her neighbors. It’s why the organization is partnering with the Community Foundation for Western Iowa to build a new childcare center that can serve up to 300 children.
- “If a community can capture the young families, and they stay here, then we have a better chance of keeping grandma and grandpa here, too,”said President of Vision Atlantic Christina Bateman.
- “There’s a lot of research that is new about folks moving to rural communities and finding that sense of community that they’ve not been able to find other places,” said Donna Dostal, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Western Iowa. “And we really feel that Iowa has that sense of community and Atlantic is a great example of that.”
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
There’s a desperate need in Southwest Iowa for more childcare.
I’m your neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel.
And, as I report, across Southwest Iowa, it’s a subject that comes up time and time again; including, here in Atlantic where this community is outgrowing its child development center.
Teacher: “Okay. Return the spoon. Thank you!”
Vision Atlantic formed about two years ago to address the community’s declining population.
“If a community can capture the young families, and they stay here, then we have a better chance of keeping grandma and grandpa here, too.”
President of Vision Atlantic, Christina Bateman, says affordable childcare is among the greatest needs for her neighbors. It’s why the organization is partnering with the Community Foundation for Western Iowa to build a new childcare center that can serve up to 300 children.
“It’ll be real great for families,” said Bateman. “All the data shows, the first thing young families look for when they decide what communities they’re going to call home is quality, affordable childcare.”
A $10,000 grant from the Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa and more than $2 million from the Charles E. Lakin Foundation will go toward the new facility.
President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Western Iowa Donna Dostal: “Even before we had the issues with COVID, childcare was an issue, especially in the state of Iowa.”
Much of rural Southwest Iowa could be considered a childcare desert. In some cases, there are ten children for every one childcare spot available.
It's a key focus for the Women’s Fund, says Dostal, as well as for the Lakin Foundation, which is granting $165 million to projects in southwest Iowa addressing economic decline.
“There’s a lot of research that is new about folks moving to rural communities and finding that sense of community that they’ve not been able to find other places,” Dostal said. “And we really feel that Iowa has that sense of community and Atlantic is a great example of that.”
Community leaders expect to break ground on the $11 million childcare center next summer.
At the Ann W. Wickman Child Development Center in Atlantic, your southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter, Katrina Markel.
