Portage asked to help fund child-care center

PORTAGE — Rebecca Reiner hopes the city will help fund creation of a child-care center at NEO New Vistas High School and Adult Education.

Reiner, NEO’s executive director, said the center would train the workers as well as the children.

“Our original proposal has really changed when it comes to the child-care center, and this is part of my growth. I thought, ooh, a preschool program is all we really need,” she told the City Council at its December meeting. “But the people we were partnering with said no, you need a full-fledged child-care center – one that serves infants, 1-year-olds, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds.”

Employers have said they need additional child-care capacity in the city to meet workers’ needs. Workers have said they can’t return to work without being able to arrange care for their children, Reiner said.

“We are bringing a vital service that does affect economic development and the quality of life for citizens of Portage,” she said.

NEO is among the organizations that made a pitch for money from the American Rescue Plan Act allocation last year, before the city spent half of it on equipment.

“We’ve gone from a 2,500- to 3,000-square-foot plan to a 7,000-square-feet plan,” Reiner said.

The startup costs are still high.

Reiner originally priced the project at $250,000 to $300,000, but it has  skyrocketed to about $1.1 million.

NEO has raised some of the money needed for the project, but it can’t go forward without more support, she said. A major donor wants to know who else is coming to the table before chipping in.

The city has 88 to 112 children who need placement in a care center. A provider on the north side of town is well-equipped and trained to provide the staff support, Reiner said.

NEO has 30 acres and a 70,000-square-foot building. “We’ve already transformed an eyesore," she said. “We get nothing through property taxes,” even though still serving students just like Portage Township Schools. “We get nothing. Zero.”

Council President Collin Czilli, D-5th, asked Clerk-Treasurer Nina Rivas to bring a list of the city’s ARPA spending and planned spending to the January council meeting.