Salvation Army To Close Child Care Center

TOM WILEMON | The Daily News

The Salvation Army is closing its child care center at the end of the month because of a budget shortfall that will put eight people out of work and send parents scrambling for a replacement service.

Maj. Mark Woodcock, area commander of the Salvation Army Memphis, said the nonprofit organization is in the red on its operational budget at the same time it has raised almost $23 million for the Kroc Center of Memphis, an all-round recreation center slated for part of the Mid-South Fairgrounds.

The child care center was not part of the charity's core mission, he said, so the board voted to shut it down. All eight positions being discontinued are associated with the center.

"We made a decision to close our child care so that we could focus in on the core sheltering programs that we offer," Woodcock said. "With the child care, even though it did serve some of our clients, the majority of the kids were not part of our shelter. It was not critical to our sheltering program."

The day care program, which is based at 696 Jackson Ave. and serves about 40 children, has existed for more than a decade.

Up the creek

Carol Allsup, a paralegal who works Downtown, is searching for another day care provider for her 15-month-old. She was notified of the closure a couple of weeks ago.

"I'm having a real hard time finding a child care center that we can afford," she said. "Most child care places in the area are double the price of the Salvation Army or they are not anywhere that I would leave my child."

Her cost for the service at the Salvation Army was $95 a week, she said, while other day care centers in the Downtown area are charging $176 a week and up.

"Most places, especially this time of the year, have long waiting lists," she said. "It's not a simple thing to move a child to a different day care."

She said the Salvation Army provided a quality service.

"They have some excellent staff," Allsup said. "They kept the center clean, well run and well equipped. They did a lot of activities with the children. I never felt that my child was sitting there being ignored."

Line items

Woodcock said it was difficult to keep the center operating with the low fees.

Money raised for the Kroc Center cannot be touched because people donated those funds specifically to match a $60 million grant from McDonald's heiress Joan Kroc's estate.

The Salvation Army is also implementing other cost-cutting measures, he said, such as switching some full-time positions to part-time in other areas of the organization. Also, some positions will be frozen as they become vacant.

Woodcock in an earlier interview with The Daily News said the campaign for the Kroc Center had had an adverse effect on regular operational fundraising. At this point, there are no plans to bring the child care service back when the Kroc Center opens.

"Ultimately, it was a matter of realigning priorities," he said. "It was not something we wanted to do, but there are other child care centers within the community. There are other options for the parents and guardians of the children."

Linda Moore
The Commercial Appeal
September 10, 2009