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Round Barn Daycare receives Come Back Stronger grant
As our state continues to recover from the hardship of COVID-19, one critical need identified is the ongoing need for safe, quality child care for families and parents as they return to work. Through a grant made available by the Lilly Endowment and Early Learning Indiana, one of Greencastle’s local child care centers recently got a valuable boost.
Round Barn Daycare, a Level 3 Paths to Quality Center located at Greencastle Presbyterian Church, was awarded $15,000 as part of the $15 million Come Back Stronger Fund. Round Barn Daycare will use the grant funds to support safety-related expenses and challenges as it continues to serve families in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Like many organizations and businesses in our community, these past few months have been hard,” Pastor Wes Kendall said. “We had to make the tough decision to suspend our daycare in mid-March, but it was great to see our staff reaching out to our families — including some who took it upon themselves to make sure our families had child care. I really credit our staff and board for working hard throughout this time. They know how much child care means to our young families. We had to meet by Zoom, but we did so weekly — all so we could open back up in mid-May,”
Margo Thomas, the daycare board president, is excited to put these funds to use.
“We’ve already taken steps to ensure we continue to practice safety in the midst of this virus,” Thomas said. “We were able to open with smaller classroom sizes, and we worked hard to make sure our cleaning procedures were updated. This grant will help us to purchase everything from furniture to new learning materials to even additional staff to help us provide even more care for our kids during this time.”
Round Barn Daycare currently has openings available for any family looking for child care. Families or parents who are interested can contact Greencastle Presbyterian Church at 653-5713.