By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Community Action Partnership of Greater St. Joseph officially opened the doors to its new Northside Head Start building on St. Joseph Avenue Thursday.
While CAP St. Joe held a small scale groundbreaking earlier in the year, the agency marked this occasion Thursday with a virtual grand opening on their Facebook page.
Ashley Phillips, the early childhood program director for CAP St. Joe, says this project has been nearly three years in the making.
"It really was about knowing that we have a lot of children and families in this part of town that needed service," she said. "So, it was about trying to find a facility that could have the capacity for that."
The building has multiple classrooms and play areas for youth ages newborn to five years old. Phillips says one of the main goals of the Head Start program is to insure young children feel prepared to enter kindergarten when that time comes.
"We really work to make sure that children and families in our community have the skills and the resources to be self sufficient going into kindergarten," Phillips said. "But also for just going out into our communities."
The $2.4 million project was made possible by funding from the federal Office of Head Start.
"A lot of our programs are five-hour days," Phillips explained. "These funds are so we can start to serve kids for a longer day. So, eight hours with busing, transportation and those kinds of things."
Thursday marked the first day that CAP St. Joe staff started work inside the Northside Head Start building. Phillips says it'll be about two or so weeks before kids start coming in.
Head Start's open enrollment period for the next academic year started this March. CAP St. Joe has similar facilities in not only Buchanan County, but in Andrew and Clinton County as well.
Families who are interested in signing up for the Head Start program are encouraged to call the main line at 816-233-8281.
"Everyone is excited for us to be investing in this part of our community," Phillips said. "They're excited for children to be able to come to a space that meets everyone's needs. Same thing for families."
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