Severe budget cuts have forced the Iredell County Partnership for Young Children to close its Mooresville office, at least temporarily ending its local program of child care training that serves hundreds of local families.
The ICPYC, funded solely by the state through the North Carolina Partnership for Children, has had its budget cut by 20 percent. As a result, the agency closed its Mooresville center on North Main Street on June 30 as well as a larger office in Statesville. Those operations have now been consolidated at a smaller site in Statesville, at 433 S. Meeting St.
“It was either keep the (larger) building in Statesville or salvage as many jobs and services as we could, so we chose to move,” said Executive Director Marta Koesling. “We are devastated that we are losing our Mooresville presence, because we know it’s a vibrant community, but we had to cut somewhere.”
The Partnership’s official mission is to provide “quality child care solutions for Iredell County's children, families, providers and businesses” by offering “training and technical assistance for child care providers, consultation on child care regulations and quality issues and raises community awareness of child care issues.”
ICPYC also administers state Smart Start funds for early education in Iredell and oversees the More At Four program.
Koesling said the organization has had to trim seven staffers, including longtime dedicated Mooresville receptionist Jean Hoke and Play to Learn Coordinators Jennifer GoForth and Donette Clendenin.
“The worst part about the cuts was having to lose the playroom and our Play To Learn coordinators,” Koesling said. “I was hoping we could set up the program at an alternate site, but it just wasn’t possible.
“Having to cut our staff has been a real personal loss for us, especially Jean. She was really the children’s cheerleader and took care of the families that used our programs for a number of years. She always said she would do her job for free and she’s still helping us pack and move.”
Koesling said that if budget restrictions ease, the Partnership will try to return to Mooresville. In the meantime, the Statesville location is doing what it can to reach out to Mooresville residents.
“We’re going to try to hold training workshops and events at the Mooresville Public Library if we can and maybe local churches,” she said. “Of course they will be less frequent than usual. Glenda (Lambert, Early Learning Resource Center coordinator) will be making a lot of outreach visits and deliveries for our book lending library.”
Koesling added that ICPYC will still offer the More At Four program, now called NCPK, a state funded pre-kindergarten program for four-year-olds that seeks to promote school readiness for all children. So far, 287 children have registered for those fall programs, and Koesling is still unsure of their locations.
For more information on the closing of the Mooresville location or on the future of ICPYC programs, call the Statesville office at 704-878-9980.
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