Greater Midland redesigns future of early childcare center
Tess DeGayner, Midland Daily News | Friday, December 9, 2022
Greater Midland early care and education assistant teachers Krystle Knight (left) and Jeanenne Heye holds a baby on Dec. 2, 2022 at the Greater Midland Community Center.
Greater Midland has served families with care and education for many years, but its facility no longer fits its needs.
Andrea Secrease, executive director of programming for Greater Midland, says it is time for a new space to reflect the nonprofit's early care and education needs.
“We're really taking care of the whole child,” she said.
Educators with Greater Midland, a local nonprofit that owns several buildings, will receive a fresh design soon as part of the overall reconstruction of the community center on Jefferson in Midland. The construction phase is currently underway. The Early Childcare facility was not designed for its current use.
Meanwhile, nonprofit leaders are watching the demand for childcare grow in the region and across the state.
Secrease is the executive lead for early childhood programming across the nonprofit. She advocates for families and staff development.
“That (current building) is old and in disrepair and was never designed to do the thing that we're asking (it) to do,” said Secrease. “It’s a critical investment for our community.”
With nine classrooms coming to the new building, Greater Midland will have one of the largest early childcare and education centers in the Great Lakes Bay area.
The nonprofit cares for between 450 and 500 families across the Greater Midland network, said Secrease.
According to Secrease, more than 20 counties throughout the state of Michigan are considered childcare deserts as of last summer. However, she said this region is “blessed” with high-quality providers.
“Some of it is a childcare business model that has been really difficult for a really long time and has faced a lot of underinvestment and disinvestment. So it can happen anywhere," Secrease said.
The various hallways will be transformed with a redesigned building for a new Early Childcare Center at Greater Midland's site in Midland. (Photo Provided/Ali Christensen)
Concepts for the future
A lot of the children at the Early Care and Education Center, Secrease said, spend more of their waking hours at the center than in their own homes.
One of the growing trends in childcare is nature preschools.
“Kids learn best through play,” Secrease said. “Yeah, so we know from birth to age 5, your best bet for really teaching skills is to make sure that it can be done through play, through hands-on."
The new Greater Midland facility aims to incorporate safe nature interaction with connection to the outdoors.
“It has pretty much been understood that the interaction of nature and children is really beneficial,” said Heidrun Hoppe, who is the project’s architectural consultant. “Rather than (children) being inside a lot, if they can just go directly outside into a protected play area – that’s perfect.”
Best practices and regulations guided the design process, which is still subject to changes.
The space is designed with intention, to entice particular behaviors such as play and exploration.
Classroom spaces, for example, aim to encourage curiosity. It could be as simple as redirecting a table in position to look out into the hallway.
The Dabbs family of Midland, including Carter, who is age 7, are reflecting on a “well-rounded” experience.
“The (Greater Midland) program provided a foundation in education to figure things out,” said Michael Dabbs, Carter’s father.
Carter often plays school, which Michael attributes to Greater Midland, because “he loves learning.”
The Greater Midland organization launched a “Greater Together” project to re-conceptualize its current and new facilities to address trends, “stakeholder needs” and usage.
Secrease is also the executive director at the two family centers, North Family Center and Coleman Family Center. For more information on the Greater Together project and each building, visit www.greatermidland.org.
