Officials broke ground on a new child care center Wednesday in east Omaha that will have the capacity to serve about 100 to 120 kids.
The construction comes at a time when child care is needed in the city. The Omaha metro area has a potential gap of 4,454 child care spots, according to a February report from the Buffett Early Childhood Institute.
Completely KIDS, an Omaha non-profit, already offers after-school programs, mental health services, a weekend food program and adult education. Ann Lawless, chief program officer, said early childhood was the next step to fully serve families.
“Completely KIDS has always responded to what the need of our kids and families was. We continue to evolve, right?” Lawless said. “How we end up here is, well, really the missing link is early childhood.”
Completely KIDS serves more than 2,900 kids in 16 locations across Omaha, mainly southeast Omaha, according to its website. Many of them are eligible for free or reduced lunch.
The new building, which will be called the Henry Davis Center, will have eight early childhood classrooms on the first floor to provide child care for 2- to 5-year-olds. The second floor will be an expanded space for the organization’s mental health services.
“We all know that mental health is a huge priority for kids and families, and it certainly is going to take some work to help families and children kind of heal and grow and be who they want to be,” Lawless said.
Lulu Rangel, clinical director, said with the new building, the mental health services team will be able to double from three full-time therapists and one part-time position to seven full-time therapists.
“Since COVID, we’ve really seen an increase in the need for mental health. In this last year as well, we’ve had a lot of crisis — is what we call like self-harm, suicidal ideation, even homicidal ideation,” Rangel said. “To be able to expand and provide more services for more of our kids and families is really exciting.”
Currently, staff members meet with kids in their afterschool programs providing psychoeducational groups that teach kids skills like identifying their emotions. Rangel said they also provide individual therapy for kids and families.
“We typically go to them, which is nice, but to be able to have a floor where they can come to us — we’ll have a waiting room, we’ll have offices that are set with that clinical ambience, we’ll have group therapy rooms — so it’s going to add to that confidentiality, that trust.”
The construction will also include updating the outdoor playground with new equipment, Lawless said.
“There’s not a ton of parks around here, and kids’ neighborhoods aren’t always safe and/or have green space, and so wanting to provide the opportunity that what nature can do and does do for kids, and wanting that to be a part of of Completely KIDS, because it is about that holistic approach,” Lawless said.
Susan Toohey, director for educational initiatives at Lozier Foundation and superintendent at Nelson Mandela Elementary, said at the groundbreaking that high-quality early childhood education is an investment for a community.
“The first five years of life, when children are developing those key skills and cognitive social and emotional foundations, that will shape their learning forever — that will happen and make success happen for a lifetime,” Toohey said. “When children have access to the nurturing environment of skilled educators and supportive services, they enter kindergarten ready to learn.”
The building is the third phase of a $28 million Completely KIDS campaign to expand programs. Carla Rizzo, chief executive officer of Completely KIDS, said funds came from donors, foundations and a state grant program focused on north and south Omaha.
“We have the services and the combination and the partnership and the passion to make a real difference in our community, and we’re all going to do that together,” Rizzo said.
The center is set to be completed in July 2027. Lawless said it will be amazing to see the construction done so the organization can help families.
“We believe in this community, we believe in this neighborhood, and we certainly believe in our kids and families, and so making space for them and continuing to expand services to meet their needs is, you know, that’s what we do,” Lawless said. “That’s what we do. That’s what Completely KIDS is, and we’re really excited about it.”