EASTER SEALS DAY CARE FINDS HOME

Through the efforts of staff and parents of children who attended the Easter Seals Child Development Center, the program of inclusive child care offered there will continue at a new location.

The Include Me, Too! Educational Center opened Monday in the former convent building next to St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church's DePaul Center, the former Notre Dame High School. The Rev. Milton Ryan, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul, said the church is sponsoring the child-care center and letting the convent building be used rent-free temporarily while the search continues for a permanent location.

Parents and staff had been trying to find a way to continue the program since Easter Seals Missouri announced Feb. 25 that the center at 1912 Broadway would close March 10. That gave parents two weeks to make other day-care arrangements.

Parents like Dan Seger felt the program offered at the center, which was open to children with and without special needs, was too good to let go. So he, other parents, staff members and people in the community have been trying to establish the same type of inclusive program without Easter Seals affiliation.

"We're somewhere," a relieved Seger said as he stood outside the center on Monday watching children play on the lawn next to the parking lot. "We'll continue working to find a permanent place to house the center, but at least we were able to find a temporary place until we do."

"The center's mission is compatible with the mission of the parish," Ryan said. "We were glad we could offer them this building until they can find something permanent."

Ryan was approached with the plan to house the day-care center last week. But diocese rules requiring state certification and other requirements made it seem unlikely the center could open by Monday.

"Then the church decided to sponsor the center, which meant those requirements would not have to be met," Ryan said, allowing the teachers to move in equipment on Sunday.

Church-affiliated child-care centers are not required to be licensed by the state, said Cheryl Beahan, who was director of the Easter Seals center and will be director of Include Me, Too! However, she said the center will continue to meet state standards in child-teacher ratios and nutrition and sanitation standards.

"I and my staff wouldn't have it any other way," she said.

Ryan said parents of children at the center are being required to sign liability waivers, and the agreement is for the center to occupy the building for no more than 60 days.

The center opened Monday with 17 children, said teacher Cynthia Gaither. The Easter Seals center served 50 children when its closing was announced. Gaither said she expects enrollment to grow as word spreads that the inclusive program has reopened under a different name. She said capacity will be 45 to 50 at the center, which cares for children ages 6 weeks to 8 years.

The center is in the process now of getting telephone service, but those interested in enrolling children in the center can come by the building, which faces Caruthers Avenue just past Ritter. On Monday teachers were using their cellular phones for calls.

The new center's equipment, including toys, books, paper, chairs, tables and others items, were donated by parents, staff and the community. The center is using seven rooms in the lower two levels of the three-story building. That includes several classrooms, a large room where the five special-needs children enrolled will receive their therapy and a kitchen to prepare meals.

"The children have adjusted well," said Gaither, who noted that while the building was different the children were familiar with each other and the staff.

Seger said his 4-year-old son adjusted to the new location without missing a bit.

"Everything seems OK," he said.