GenerationsCrossing Has New Home Intergenerational Daycare Opens Doors To Children In January
Officials with GenerationsCrossing described the opening of the organization's new facility like welcoming a new member to the family. "We watched it come from the concept to the blueprints to the furniture coming in," board member Sue Garber said. "And last week, when the furniture came, particularly with infant care, I said, 'This is just like having a baby."
Garber joked that one of the moving men disagreed with the analogy. But she was proud nonetheless of the first intergenerational daycare facility in Rockingham County.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Wednesday for the GenerationsCrossing Intergenerational Center, a $2.1 million 10,000-square-foot building that opened for seniors last month at the corner of Massanetta Springs Road and Taylor Spring Lane. It will open for childcare in January. An open house for potential clients will be held today from 4 to 6 p.m.
'Mutually Beneficial Opportunity'
Funding for the facility cleared a big hurdle in December when the nonprofit GenerationsCrossing was approved for a low-interest, $1.3 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Members of the community and businesses donated about $900,000, board member Suzanne Obenshain said.
GenerationsCrossing had been offering intergenerational daycare since 2002 at Park View Mennonite Church, said Obenshain.
The program "borrowed" children from Eastern Mennonite University's Early Learning Center, which also operated at Park View, Obenshain said.
"It's a mutually beneficial opportunity for both generations to appreciate each other," she said.
Life Lessons
The new building, across the street from Sunnyside Retirement Community, includes separate spaces for adults and children and has a shared space for combined activities.
The daycare can provide activities and programs for about 30 adults and 100 children, Garber said.
Daycare will be available for children from infants up to 5 years old, and there will be an after-school program for children in kindergarten through fifth grade, Obenshain said.
GenerationsCrossing also has day camps in the summer.
Executive Director Laurie Deavers said the seniors have been asking when the kids are going to come back to the program.
"I asked one of the adults, 'Why was camp so special?'" Deavers recalled. "She said, 'Because the children make me smile."
Deavers said her children participated in the summer camp, and they learned a lot from the grown-ups.
"They've also built new relationships," she said. "They have learned a lot about respect and about life." Contact Jeremy Hunt at 574-6273 or jhunt@dnronline.com Copyright (c) 2008, Byrd Newspapers, All Rights Reserved.
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