Hillsboro, WI, Gets Creative to Address Lack of Child Care Options
Will open combination child care and senior center with private and public funds.
A groundbreaking was held recently in Hillsboro for a new childcare and senior center. Photo courtesy of Jessica Limpert
The small western Wisconsin city of Hillsboro hopes to address its shortage of daycare options for local families through a plan to open a combination child care and senior recreational center this fall.
The project includes a senior center along with a day care program that can accommodate 33 children. Groundbreaking was held earlier this year.
There are currently no licensed child care centers in Hillsboro and just two or three day care providers in a 40-mile radius of the city.
“Without that (child care access) staff are sometimes having to make the decision of, ‘Do they take another job to get close to child care?’ or ‘Do they quit entirely to become a stay-at-home parent?’” said Hillsboro City Administrator Josh Finch.
The city has been working on the issue for several years with St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. The church will run the day care as part of a school its operated in the area for decades.
The project is expected to cost at least $1.2 million and is being paid for by a mix of public and private money.
The city is backing a low-interest loan for the local developer building the 5,000-square-foot building. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. is providing a $250,000 grant to Hillsboro through the state’s Community Development Investment, or CDI, Grant Program.
“This project uniquely supports economic well-being in Wisconsin by accommodating families with children, enabling parents to reenter or expand their participation in the workforce,” WEDC Secretary Missy Hughes said. “The business community has strongly urged the city council to do everything possible to bring a quality child care facility to the community after losing multiple facilities in the past year,”
In fiscal year 2024, CDI funded about $8.7 million worth of projects in 40 Wisconsin communities throughout the state. Those included other child care projects.
In 2023, according to Finch, a group of seniors approached the city asking for help bring a senior center to the city. Part of the new building will be used for a meal site and a place for seniors to gather.
The city and church are collaborating on how the child care and senior center can work in partnership.
St. Paul’s Lutheran church bought the land where the building is being built and will lease it initially with an option to buy it.
“The need in the area is such that we’re pretty sure that it’s going to fill pretty quickly,” said Pastor Jacob Limpert.
While the project was years in the making, the current plan came together in less than a year. It’s expected to open in September.
A western Wisconsin city is addressing its lack of child care options in a creative way was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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