A New Child Care Facility in Friend
Welcome to Friend Learning Center (FLC), a community-driven response to the childcare gap of Friend and its surrounding communities. To be housed within a dedicated section of the Friend Community Hospital, the space is set to undergo a renovation, poised to offer nurturing care and education, accommodating up to 48 children, ages 6 weeks to 12 years old.
The Challenge
Until recently, Friend was blessed with multiple quality childcare providers. When our largest licensed childcare provider closed, we observed multiple families take their children up to 40 miles from our town to obtain childcare.
Many families struggle to manage schedules, drive far from home and work to find care, or must drop out of the workforce entirely. We know some families have declined employment in Friend due to a lack of childcare options.
The Opportunity
Recognizing the dire need for quality affordable childcare in Friend, a group of concerned citizens began discussing how we can help our families. After identifying a space within Friend Community Healthcare System, that is currently used for storage and meeting space, we intend to repurpose the space as a childcare facility licensed to serve up to 48 children.
We are excited that young families could bring new life to an unused portion of the hospital and offer mutual benefits to the families, children, and staff of the hospital and childcare facility alike.
Why Now?
The childcare shortage, and the costs to families, employers and community growth were well documented over a series of studies from September 2023 to the present. The community of Friend, NPPD, and the Friend Learning Center identified these issues.
of respondents believed there was not enough quality childcare options in Friend.
think that high-quality, accessible childcare was very important to Friend’s overall growth and development
of respondents think is very difficult to find childcare locally.
