Child care facility at new Abingdon workforce hub set to open soon

Parents who are looking for child care in the Abingdon area still have a chance to get their children enrolled at the new Ballad Health Center for Early Learning – Abingdon, which is expected to open in the next few weeks.

The center is part of the $26.5 million Regional Workforce and Child Development Hub opening this month. It’s a project of Endless Opportunity, which was previously the program arm of the United Way of Southwest Virginia .

The hub is housed in a renovated former Kmart building that totals 87,000 square feet in a shopping center off Interstate 81’s Exit 17.

The child care side of the building will be operated by Ballad Health and eventually will care for as many as 300 children between the ages of 6 weeks and 5 years. The other side of the building will house workforce training, including STEM labs for teacher training.

The Abingdon child care center will be the third that Ballad has opened this year in Southwest Virginia. Child care is one of the top needs in the region, according to Paula Masters, the health system’s chief health disparities officer, who said the child care gap is a barrier to employment and economic stability.

Ballad wants to help solve the gap to recruit and retain its own employees and to help the communities it serves, she added.

Ballad officials learned in 2022 that there was a deficit of about 12,000 child care slots in its primary service area, which includes 11 counties in Southwest Virginia and 10 in Northeast Tennessee, she said. The same year, its board decided to commit up to $37 million to open as many as 11 new day care centers. In addition to the three in Southwest Virginia, three others have opened in its service area. Three in Northeast Tennessee have been open for years.

More than half the available slots at the Abingdon center have been filled, but it’s not too late for parents to apply, according to Amy Doran, Ballad’s corporate director for early childhood care and education. Younger classes tend to fill up earlier because there are fewer spots, she added.

Priority will be given to the children of Ballad team members and to employees at Food City, which is a partner on the hub project, but there are still spots for the children of community members. Families who can’t immediately get in can add their names to the waiting list.

The total enrollment will include some children from People Incorporated’s Head Start program and some from the Washington County School System who are in the state-funded Virginia Preschool Initiative for at-risk 4-year-olds.

The new child care center will open earlier and stay open later than most, operating from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., which a lot of working parents have said is a big need, she said. It is also committed to being open every weekday, closing only on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Because some children will be there for 12 hours or more, Doran said, “We are doing everything we can to make it the most comfortable, best quality care that they can possibly have so that while they’re with us it’s going to be a wonderful experience. We’re also making sure that we’re open on those hard-to-staff days like holidays.”

The cost varies by age level and family income. Scholarship and discount programs are offered, and Ballad can help parents find financial assistance such as state subsidies.

According to the center’s website, the community rate for infants 6 weeks to 15 months is $290 per week, while the cost is $203 per week for Ballad employees. For toddlers 16 months to 2 years old, the community rate is $260 per week and $182 for Ballad employees. For preschoolers aged 3 to 5, the rate is $230 for the community and $161 for Ballad employees.

Parents can fill out a short financial application to see if they qualify for additional discounted rates. There is a $50 registration fee.

All supplies are furnished, and the children will get three meals and a snack every day.

The center’s focus will be school readiness, and it will be set up in pods. The plan is to have 21 classrooms, each with a teacher with a degree in early education, and two assistants, according to Doran.

The center will be staffed with 66 employees, including a director, assistant director, cooks and a security officer. Hiring is still underway, but there are enough employees to open with the current number of children. The center will be highly secure with a double entrance, badge access only and a camera system throughout.

An app will allow for real-time communication between teachers and parents for check-ins and sharing photos so parents know how their child’s day is going, Masters said.

“I think that is one of the pieces that again speaks to what we’re trying to accomplish here with the relationship with our communities,” she added.

There will be an indoor multipurpose room where kids can work on their motor skills, like riding tricycles, and an indoor/outdoor playground and outdoor play areas.

The main purpose for providing child care is to build a stronger workforce, so Ballad has forged a “wonderful partnership” with EO, and the workforce/child care hub offers other opportunities for collaboration, Doran said.

“We have a lot going on in the center,” she said. “In addition to child care, we are also at a place where we can have high school students and college students who are learning to be teachers do field opportunities. We’re going to be partnering with EO in a way that if anybody has an interest in going into early childhood education, we are the perfect partner to be able to show them what that’s all about.”

The other new Ballad child care centers in Southwest Virginia are in Lebanon, which opened Feb. 29, and Norton, which opened July 1. The center in Lebanon has slots for 60 children and has a few openings. More slots are available in Norton, which can accommodate up to 130 kids, so applications are still being taken.

The full Regional Workforce and Child Development Hub now has its official certificate of occupancy and the EO staff has moved in. Although the hub isn’t yet open to the public, an open house will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Friday for anyone interested in volunteering at the Career Commons area, where students can explore different jobs in the community.

A ribbon-cutting for the hub will be held Oct. 29, and an open house/block party has been set for Nov. 2.

To apply for child care at any Ballad facility, visit www.balladhealth.org/childcare .

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