MOLINE, Ill. — Since joining Project Now Head Start in February 2022, Head Start Director Andrea Flannery and her team have been working to bring childcare services to the Floreciente community in Moline.
After two years, it all came to fruition on Friday as Project Now unveiled four new Head Start classrooms that will host up to 80 students. Flannery says she hopes this will help families in need of childcare.
"When we step in and help those families fulfill those needs, we're giving those families other opportunities to seek out further education, veteran career and employment opportunities, and even just recreation," Flannery said. "A lot of the other head starts are under-enrolled because of staffing and they're not able to open all of their classrooms. That's not a problem that we're having here in these communities. Our problem here is facilities and space and we hope opening up the Esperanza Center will fix that."
Children who are experiencing homelessness or are in a foster care program are automatically eligible for the service.
Andrea says there will also be a bilingual curriculum offered in the classroom with at least one Spanish-speaking teacher in each of the classrooms. She hopes to continue growing their diversity program to encourage more families to join.
"I made it my goal to have Spanish speakers in our program because we want to be able to communicate with all families. No one should ever feel discouraged for service because of the language they speak," Flannery said.
Funding for the reopening of the center was provided by the City of Moline through the American Rescue Plan Act.
A ribbon cutting is planned sometime in the fall.
To enroll your child in the Moline program, click here.
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