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YMCA fills a need in Penfield with new childcare center
The Irene Skalny Childcare Center at the Eastside Family YMCA in Penfield will serve 120 children and fill a need for such care in the area. (rendering courtesy of the YMCA of Greater Rochester)
The Irene Skalny Childcare Center at the Eastside Family YMCA in Penfield will serve 120 children and fill a need for such care in the area. (rendering courtesy of the YMCA of Greater Rochester)
YMCA fills a need in Penfield with new childcare center
The YMCA of Greater Rochester will open a new childcare center at the Eastside Family YMCA in Penfield, which will serve 120 children, expanding the capacity of the current location to serve an additional 44 youth.
The project is twofold, said Ernie Lamour, president & CEO, YMCA of Greater Rochester.
“It allows us to provide the children in our care with access to the pool, for life-saving safety around water lessons, and gymnasium, for additional exercise and movement,” he said. “More importantly, it helps us provide families with care in an area that needs it.”
The new center will be located directly within a childcare desert, where currently there is only one available childcare slot per 12 children under the age of 5, Y leaders said.
The Y is working with several leaders and agencies in the state on the project, including Assemblymember Jen Lunsford, who secured $400,000 in funding, and Empire State Development, which is providing a $1.5 million grant to support this project. The grant was secured through the work of the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council.
Additional funding will come from the Joseph & Irene Skalny Charitable Trust and the new center will be named in honor of Irene Skalny.
In addition to the Joseph & Irene Skalny Charitable Trust, Ray and Erika Hutch, longtime philanthropic supporters and volunteer partners of our Eastside Family YMCA, have pledged their support to this new center.
The Irene Skalny Childcare Center will feature four infant rooms, three preschool and toddler rooms each, a gross motor skills room, clinical space for 1:1 family services and two playgrounds.
The current Eastside Child Care Center, located at the Fairport Baptist Homes, has been serving families in Penfield and the surrounding areas for more than a decade. There will be no interruption to care during the transition to this new space which is expected to open next winter.
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