Charlie Albano knows the struggles of parenting at Warner from both his personal and professional experience. He had to make childcare choices for his child. In a small town like Warner, I heard my neighbors talking about the same challenges.

He also looked at the issue from a policy perspective when he served as Director of Maternal and Child Health for the state, and from an economic perspective when working with the Community Development Finance Authority.

A new early childhood education center in Warner is currently slated to open in October through Boys and Girls Clubs in Central New Hampshire.

Its opening is the culmination of Albano’s efforts, a Warner resident since 1974, to spearhead nonprofits to open additional sites in town.

Albano first heard rumors about the need for childcare two years ago. It is to promote the economic development of rural towns.

The waiting list was long and the cost was high. But he wanted to quantify the needs of a town of just about 3,000 inhabitants.

With the help of the state’s Central Regional Planning Commission, the Economic Development Advisory Board published the Parenting Survey Report in November 2021.

Although only a small proportion of residents responded (139 total, or 6% of the town’s population), 72.4% of participants indicated a need for affordable childcare for preschool children. and their answers corroborated Albano’s question.

With these numbers, Albano contacted Chris Emond, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club, to pitch the early childhood education center.

“We knew he was the right person to call because of the work they’ve done in the area,” Albano said.

Boys and Girls Clubs already operate preschool and afterschool programs and summer camps at Warner Elementary Schools. This has made it easier for early childhood education centers to open, he said, Emond.

Scheduled to open in October, the center will be housed in the town’s community center, in a room where Headstart used to provide infant care.

But Head Start, which offers free programs to help school readiness for children 100% below the poverty line, was less needed in increasingly middle-class towns.

According to Census data, Warner’s median household income is $65,500. To be 100% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for a family of four, the income threshold is $27,750.

There’s no longer a need for that, Albano said. Boys and girls clubs can fill that gap.

Hiring a director and finding space was easy, Emond says. Head Start vacancies provided suitable classroom and playground spaces for children. The center has he two classrooms with access to the kitchen area and playground.

The director of the center is a current employee of a boys and girls club living in the next town.

“The hardest part, not surprisingly here, and I’ve told Charlie from the beginning, is finding staff,” he said.

We have appointed a center director and are in the process of interviewing candidates. The problem is that if prospective parents want to meet the center staff before enrollment, they are not yet recruited.

However, neither Emond nor Albano, who are sure there will be demand for registrations when the doors of the center open, are not phased with this.

“That’s the least of my concerns,” Emond said. .”

With waiting lists for other child care services, the center brings expanded coverage to areas with high demand and unattainable costs.

The average cost of childcare for an infant in New Hampshire is $1,150 per month. Infant care costs just under $950. That means a family could pay up to $24,000 a year if she had her two children in daycare.

The Boys and Girls Club charges $300 a week for infant care and $275 for toddler care.

However, Edmond said there are state aids that can help offset those costs.

Employees are paid $18 an hour and have access to all benefits. You can also enroll your children in the center for free.

“No matter how we started the program, we wanted to make sure we were actually paying a living wage,” says Albano.

Albano hopes the increase in childcare will encourage business in the small town.

“We have two or three businesses and I’ve heard in hearings that there are people who want to work with them, but they have kids and they don’t have daycare. there is,” he said. He said. “We are ready to take the place.”