Construction Begins on New, Collaborative 0-18 Child Care and After-School Care Campus in Loveland
A new era in offering child care, after-school care and inclusive family services at one central campus location officially kicked off last week. Renovations began at the site formerly occupied by New Vision Charter School at 2500 E. 1st St. Currently being called the Loveland Youth Campus, naming opportunities are available for the entire site. Attached to the current Boys & Girls Clubs of Larimer County Loveland-Pulliam Club, the campus will provide child care, after-school care and youth development services for children ages 0-18 with eventual plans to offer mental health services, bilingual resource navigation, culturally-attuned family services and more based on neighborhood input. At capacity, the campus will serve more than 350 young people per day, with a focus on children and families with the greatest need in the Loveland community.
“We’re so excited to see construction finally begin on this long-awaited project. We’re not only transforming a building, we are changing our approach to child care into one that is both community-driven and collaborative. BGCLC is proud to stand alongside our partners in this work, and we hope the community will show their support so we can open in 2024,” says Allison Hines, CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Larimer County.
The initial phase of the campus concept is rooted in a partnership between BGCLC and Teaching Tree Early Childhood Learning Center with collaboration from United Way of Larimer County and Early Childhood Council of Larimer County. United Way of Larimer County is leading the fundraising efforts for the completion of the $2 million retrofit to meet current child care licensing requirements. Initial supporters include the City of Loveland and SCHEELS, who have secured naming rights to the playground and first floor lobby, respectively. Dohn Construction, a local leader and strong community supporter, is leading the renovations.
“There are so many connections between quality early education and long-term outcomes for children. When children have access to quality early learning programs, they start reading earlier, are more likely to graduate high school and experience higher earnings into adulthood,” says Anne Lance, executive director of Teaching Tree Early Learning Center. “Teaching Tree and United Way have a long history of partnering to improve outcomes for our community’s littlest learners, and we’re grateful to lean on United Way to do the heavy lift of fundraising so we can focus on providing excellent programs and education delivered by skilled early childhood educators.”
Additional naming rights, sponsorship and donor opportunities are available and can be explored by contacting Christina Cooper, VP of resource development and communications with United Way of Larimer County (ccooper@uwaylc.org or 970-988-2176).
“There’s never been a more critical time for collaboration among nonprofits who support children, youth and families in Larimer County,” says Joy (formerly Deirdre) Sullivan, president and CEO of United Way of Larimer County. “The idea that families will be able to come to one campus for their out-of-school needs from the time their child is born until they graduate high school is innovative, exciting, and overdue. And this site is just the start.”