My Morning Out, the Champaign-based partial-day child care institution, is in danger of closing due to a severe financial hardship.
MMO leadership recently sent an email to supporters explaining its predicament and seeking financial assistance.
“Over the summer we felt like we had enough kids to sustain the program,” MMO director Maggie Keeley said. “And when school started we lost a bunch of families. Since we’re a small school to start with, a handful of people dropping can really have a big impact on us.”
To survive, the letter noted, MMO is seeking donations through this link, estimating that $30,000 is needed to keep the program in operation through December. MMO is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which means contributions are tax deductible.
MMO’s distinction in the child care marketplace is that it offers half-day care — in the morning, of course — while allowing for drop-ins.
“This is a historical low for us,” Keeley said. “I’m not really sure why it happened. I think there have been shifts in the economy that make child care feel less affordable to a lot of families, or families need to have both parents working, which obviously means full time is the option for them rather than our half-day program.”
Restructuring MMO’s program to allow for full-day care is not an option. MMO rents space from the Temple Baptist Church at 1100 Broadmoor Drive in Champaign.
“Unfortunately we can’t really offer any more care time because of the building restrictions we have,” Keeley said. “We don’t have access to a commercial kitchen, so we can’t operate more hours and serve meals. So we’re kind of at the maximum for what DCFS will allow us to do.”
Keeley, however, said she remains hopeful that C-U’s support of MMO will allow it to continue through its next semester, which begins in January.
“The community is rallying around us, to give us well wishes, and people are donating what they can,” she said. “It’s just been really heartwarming to watch and I really feel is a testament to how well-loved a program this is. People are still remembering us years later and are sad at the idea of us closing our doors.
“We’ve been around for over 50 years and there’s a reason for that. We just are really trying to fight hard to stay open and it’s been really touching to see that people want us to stay here.”