A new $6 million childcare facility will be built in a historically underserved part of Fort Worth.
The center in the Las Vegas Trail area is an effort from Tarrant County, the city of Fort Worth and nonprofits, and some families say it could make their lives much easier.
After work, Cadesjah Jackson can take her kids to a playground and community center near their home in the Las Vegas Trail neighborhood.
But finding care during the day?
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“It’s hard because I have a one-year-old,” Jackson told NBC5. “She can’t go to school right now, so if I can’t have a babysitter, then I have to miss work.”
She’s not alone: experts told NBC5 there were only five quality childcare centers in the LVT part of Fort Worth – and with one in three families in the area living in poverty, those centers haven’t always been accessible.
“And so by listening to those families, we recognized we just need more services than what we have today,” said Kara Waddell, President and CEO of Child Care Associates.
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The solution: a new childcare center to be built next door to the Rise Community Center on Calmont Avenue.
The $6 million investment is a joint project from the county and city and will be run by the nonprofit Child Care Associates.
“It’s going to be almost a 13,000-square-foot facility,” Waddell said. “Eight classrooms focused a little more on infants and toddlers.”
The project came a month after the city broke ground on a multimillion-dollar healthcare facility nearby on Calmont Avenue.
CCA told NBC 5 that this new facility would embody a research-driven approach to childcare in Fort Worth: designed with natural light and calming colors, and classrooms that could constantly be redesigned.
“The stage can move for the children, it can function in different places,” Waddell said. “This could be a reading corner, it could be a dramatic play area.”
Advocates hoped to bring a bit of light to the Las Vegas Trail neighborhood that’s been waiting for its chance to shine.
And how do families feel?
“Happy, because I’ve got somewhere for my kids to go,” Jackson said.
CCA told NBC 5 the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Las Vegas Trail childcare facility is set for Fall 2024.
