HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — According to U.S. News and World Report, the continuing lack of access to high-quality and affordable child care has more than doubled its blow to the U.S. economy over the last five years.
Redstone Arsenal is looking to combat this by providing lower-cost childcare to military-connected families in the area.
The first thing Tameka Smith-Grant, facility director of Redstone Arsenal's CYS School Age Center wants folks to know at home, particularly military-connected families is that these services exist.
"Well first, we want so many different military-connected families to know that we are here," said Smith-Grant.
You may be wondering, what exactly entails a military-connected family?
"If you are a retiree, but you still have access to the posts, we need you. We need your babies! If you are a DoD civilian, if you are a contractor and you work here on Redstone Arsenal, our services are for you," said Smith-Grant.
There's a push to get more children involved as they are gearing up for after-school programs come August.
"Right now we have a good 80 signed up, but this building holds up to 160 kids," said Smith-Grant.
As mentioned, the United States faces a childcare crisis, with the growing cost of childcare, the Arsenal is looking to keep that cost at bay.
"They [those signing up for childcare] pay for the bus transportation because we also pick up from over 30 to 40 schools in Madison City, Madison County, and Huntsville City and we're spreading out all over," said Smith-Grant.
Making these services worth your time and money according to Smith-Grant:
"We're not a free program, but we're a program, honestly, where you get what you pay for. There are a lot of afterschool programs where they're just kind of in a gym and they're running around. Our after-school programs, we literally have life-skill programing and educational success. We have the youths of the year. We have fine arts programs that we put them in. Their art goes from state to national to regional. I mean, it's so many different opportunities that they have, but it goes beyond today and it goes beyond this year. It carries on until the middle school teen and until they graduate."
For more information about Military Childcare in general, click here.
For more information about Redstone Arsenal's School Age Center, click here.
For more information about registering with Redstone Arsenal's School Age Center, click here and scroll down to Registration and Forms.
You can also call 256-955-6114 or 256-876-3704 for more information.
