The Limestone Family YMCA is holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a second daycare facility on Jan. 3 and 1 p.m.
Tonya Wenz, the executive director of the Limestone YMCA, said they chose to expand after she was approached with an email from Austin Berry of CrossPoint Community Church. Berry said the church was looking to reach out into the community in any way they needed assistance. Berry inquired how the CrossPoint Community Church could help the YMCA.
“So I reached out to Chad Current, which is the pastor at CrossPoint Community Church, and said ‘our daycare is full, we’re at the point where we need some extra space and we’re trying to figure out what to do, would you like to just sit down and have a discussion about it?’ He said sure. So that’s where it started, we sat down and kind of tossed around options,” Wenz said.
Wenz said Current expressed the need for some space as well for the church’s Student XP program which has grown. The two worked out a mutually beneficial exchange that has the daycare using space at the church and the church youth group using space at the YMCA.
“They actually aren’t charging us rent to use the church, for the childcare center, which was amazing for us because they truly are doing it to fill a need and a void in the community, and that’s the purpose for why they wanted to do it. We are letting them use the gym on Wednesday nights for Student XP, and that’s all they’re gaining from that,” she said.
Wenz said at that point, they had 200 children on the waiting list that needed childcare. Wenz said some of those children, in the lengthy process of getting the building to code, ultimately found childcare elsewhere. Though she attributes the brevity of the situation to the combined, persistent efforts of Maysville-Mason County Industrial Development Authority Executive Director Owen McNeil and Mason County Judge-Executive Joe Pfeffer.
“Owen McNeil and Judge Pfeffer were just amazing in getting us the state people in as quickly as we could to move it along as fast as we could. So each time we needed an inspection, I could reach out to them and they were on it and called whoever they needed to call to get people here to inspect for us. Our final inspection was right before Christmas, and they did give us our license and said ‘you’re good to go,’” she said.
The new facility is currently licensed for 66 children.
“We’re ready to go, and excited,” Wenz said.
The facility will be officially open Jan. 6. Persons interested in the facility’s childcare services can contact Patty Clark, the childcare director, or her site manager Tiffany Wolfe, and they can help get the required childcare packet. Alternatively, a packet can be picked up at the Limestone YMCA.
An open house will be held from 5-7 p.m on Jan. 3 at CrossPoint Community Church.
