It seems like we've got a need for child-care services in order to retain a thriving young family and millennial population in Sturgeon Bay. Something to explore: combined senior and child day care.
Read full article here .
"A growing trend in day care facilities...: intergenerational day care. These facilities house adult care programs as well as child-care programs in one center, often combining activities for both sets of clients throughout the day. The number of these innovative programs is on the rise. In December 2005, the Los Angeles Times reported that more than 500 intergenerational day care facilities had opened up around the country, more than double what was available just 10 years earlier.
"Julianne Joerres, marketing associate at the St. Ann Center for Adult and Child Day Care in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, elaborated on this trend. She said that when her adult clients served as mentors and teachers to the children they gained 'a sense of purpose and added dignity to their lives.'
"... the many benefits children receive from interaction with 'the neighbors,' or the older clients. Children receive more one-on-one attention. The toddlers enjoy sitting on the lap of one of the neighbors and having a book read to them before napping. The 2-year-olds also get neighbor lunch partners who offer help and conversation during the meal. The elder clients also help out in the infant room holding and rocking the babies individually -- an unhurried time that is not often possible in traditional child care facilities."
Submitted by NA