Ellsworth Childcare Center Is Due to Open in April
By Jennifer Osborn

ELLSWORTH—Child and Family Opportunities Inc. broke ground Tuesday for its new 12,000-square-foot childcare facility on Avery Lane.

The facility, due to be completed in March, will accommodate up to 80 children from 6 weeks to 5 years of age. Childcare will be available between 6:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, with more hours possible.

Digging in at their future Child and Family Opportunities Inc. facility Tuesday  are, from left, Lexus , Aaron, Travis., Carly and Briana.
STAFF PHOTO BY JOHN HUBBARD

Breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks will be included in the weekly fees.

Childcare, particularly infant care, is needed in the area.

Of the eight family childcare centers in the area that take infants, most have waiting lists.

“Our understanding is they are full,” said Phyllis Young, the agency’s executive assistant. “It’s really pretty tight for a community our size.”

The new building will feature an administrative wing to provide offices for the agency’s 20 employees.

The facility will have a playground, kitchen and conference room.

Officials plan to move from the High Street location into the new facility by April 2003.

Child & Family Opportunities officials said they chose the Avery Lane location, which is off Beechland Road, because it offers a quiet, wooded environment for children to learn and play.

The building will cost about $1.9 million. Child & Family Opportunities has received $995,000 in grants from such agencies as Maine’s USDA Rural Development Program and the federal Head Start program.

It received nearly $1 million in low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 The board plans a campaign to raise $200,000 to add special touches to the facility. Those would include skylights in the classrooms and hallways that were eliminated during planning because of funding concerns.

The facility will be accredited by the state. As an accredited program, parents using the childcare services can receive twice the tax credit on their annual state income taxes.

Each teacher will hold a Child Development Associate Credential, an associate’s degree in early childhood education or else a related degree. Alternatively, the teacher would be enrolled in such a program and working toward the credential.

The facility will create 10 new jobs.

The mission of Child & Family Opportunities is to serve children and their families with Head Start and child care services in Hancock and Washington Counties.

Child & Family Opportunities began as Action Opportunities in 1970 when three Hancock County residents—Nicholas Holt, David Cadigan and Dr. John Van Pelt—heard that the Hancock County Community Action program was to lose its funding, with its services put out to bid.

The three formed a non-profit agency and applied to become the community action program for Hancock County.

The idea of funding such an agency was scrapped because the population base in Hancock County then was not enough to support a community action program.

However, Action Opportunities became the Head Start provider for Hancock County. In 1998, the name was changed to Child & Family Opportunities.

In addition to the new facility in Ellsworth, the agency is expanding in Washington County.

It has renovated its Machias location and will begin serving 42 children, ages six weeks to five years during the first week of October.

Besides childcare, the agency provides childcare resource and referrals, family childcare support, training and technical assistance for childcare providers. The agency also manages the state’s subsidized childcare program in Hancock County.