A New Childcare Center

This is the Dream.

Get out of this dead-end job. Get the education that can change a life. Get the kind of health 
insurance they name after luxury cars. Get the bills caught up.

The community college has the program. The financial aid is in place.  

There are online classes so the schedule can work around the job – because work is still a reality. But it's a hands-on degree program, and being on campus matters. And everyone knows the 
professors are fantastic. Supportive.

But what about the kids? How much is child care going to cost and where can it be found?

There's nothing in town and mom and dad have work, too.

It's time to do this. Everyone knows it's time. But something is always, always in the way. Someday it will change.

Someday has to be now: Support the new Childcare Center at Tompkins Cortland

Child care in New York is the most expensive in the country. According to a 2014 study by Child Care Aware of America, New York state ranks #1 in the country for childcare costs. Our Childcare Center provides invaluable access to affordable child care, with fees set on an income-based sliding scale. Access to child care also supports enrollment, which in turns strengthens the College.    

There are 8,300 children under six in Tompkins and Cortland counties, and 65 percent live in homes where all parents present in the home work. With only 3,000

childcare spaces available, there is a 45 percent gap.

"Young families have so much on their shoulders, none more so than those who are students going back to school to provide their children with better lives. Having the highest quality childcare center that supports both children and families is one of the great investments we can make in the future," says Brigid Hubberman, Founder of the Family Reading Partnership

Our Students Need This

Jen Wendel not only has two daughters who attend the childcare center, but also is a student of the College in the Early Childhood program and an employee of the center. The center is essential to her success as a student: "Having my children here at school with me has helped me make it through the end of my degree. I love that they are here with 'family' being taken care of and loved. I am grateful to be able to watch them grow and achieve new things."

An expanded center creates more hands-on learning opportunities for Early Childhood students. 
At present, about 14 students are able to intern in the center each year. This would more than triple the number of interns to 45-50 students each year, and would also increase the number of work study students from 6 to 18. Our student interns would also have the added value of training in our NAEYC-accredited center

For more information, contact at 607.844.8222, Ext. 4217 or email foundation@tompkinscortland.edu.