MOUNT VERNON — For the second time this week, a child care facility in Mount Vernon has hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony; demonstrating Knox County’s commitment to solving a problem many face.
At 1200 W. Chestnut Street, adjacent to Riverside Park, the Absolute Love Learning Center cut its ceremonious ribbon Wednesday for a new addition to its current location.
The Salvation Army snipped its ribbon for the new Learning Lighthouse center on Howard Street on Sunday.
“[The Area Development Foundation] did a study about three years ago, four years ago, and found that we had about 1,000 families who would have a spouse or one who wanted to go to work, but they couldn’t find child care,” Mount Vernon Mayor Matt Starr said.
“So, in addition to housing, childcare became another economic development issue for us. In particular, what Dana Zeigler and her team have been able to manage is expanding that childcare service to infant/toddler, which is incredibly important.”
Zeigler, owner of the Absolute Love Learning Center, said the new addition will bump the current 52-child occupancy to 99.
Similar to The Learning Lighthouse, Zeigler serves infant, toddler, preschool and school age children from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
How Zeigler got the center to where it is today
While Zeigler’s center began serving the community in 2006, she wasn’t part of the organization until she bought the child care center in 2019.
“One of the things I learned right away, as I was learning the licensing rules and what was required, was that we were only allowed five students under the age of 2 1/2,” Zeigler said.
“To increase that, we could put a no egress entry into our building. So, I was giving a tour one day and somebody said ‘Well, why don’t you just put a ramp in your back alley?’ I had never thought of that and so I applied for a grant from the city.”
Fast forward to today, the child care facility’s owner applied for and received the Facade Improvement grant from the City of Mount Vernon — a crucial element to the project.
The full project cost $63,000 and the city’s grant covered $19,000. As for the remainder of the cost, Zeigler said she was grateful for more of the community’s help.
“We had a woman’s group in town who donated another $5,000,” Zeigler said. “The rest, I’ve taken it on personally just because I believe in what we’re doing here.”
As of right now, Zeigler has 11 staff members. While she isn’t sure how many people she’ll be hiring to fill out the new space, she did say new job openings are coming.
Zeigler said she still has other expansion plans in the works, too.
“I’m always thinking, and the next project is the kitchen. I want to get a food program going,” she said.
To read more about the Absolute Love Learning Center or apply, click here.
