Mayor Gahan Taps ARP Funds for Early Childhood Education

The City of New Albany will put American Rescue Plan funds to work to improve early childhood education accessibility and quality in New Albany. The City has partnered with Head Start to expand their services to more low-income families in a new location in New Albany.

The City of New Albany has invested hundreds of thousands of American Rescue Plan funds to improve mental health services, drug and alcohol addiction services, utility and food assistance services, and other non-profit assistance. Now, Early Childhood Education joins that list.

“New Albany has a major shortage of early child care that is both affordable and available to young families,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan. “For years, we have been looking for ways to expand these types of services, and I’m thrilled that we were able to partner with Head Start to help more children and young families in New Albany.”

Head Start is a nationally recognized daycare and early childhood education service that provides affordable services to children and families. Head Start is specifically listed as an approved beneficiary in the federal guidelines for ARP funds. It provides children from low-income families with a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and educational needs. Currently, Head Start is located off of Corydon Pike, and at their current location, they can only serve less than 30 children. 

Head Start will be expanding to Colonial Manor on Charlestown Road. Efforts to revitalize the nearly vacant Colonial Manor took off in early 2020, as the New Albany Redevelopment Commission approved a partnership with Hoagland Commercial Realtors that would pledge $1 million to Colonial Manor for infrastructure, façade work, lighting, parking lot improvements, trees, and more along Charlestown Road.

“The Colonial Manor development is a perfect example of a public-private partnership,” stated Brian Forrest with Hoagland Commercial Realtors. “The City of New Albany stepped up and helped with some funding to make this development possible and offset a higher sales price, and now these children and families will get to see the benefits for years to come.”

Those investments have been paying dividends, as Colonial Manor now plays host to a suite of services, including Child Protective Services, the Department of Motor Vehicles, LifeSpring Health Systems, and now Head Start. Estimates indicate that nearly 1,000 people will move through Colonial Manor per day once all of these initiatives are completed, compared with nearly 0 just a few short years ago.

The New Albany Redevelopment Commission approved an additional $800,000 to be used for a new buildout of Head Start at Colonial Manor. The new location will allow them to serve approximately 115 children in 5 large classrooms. The new location will also have a full cafeteria, an indoor gym and play area, a dedicated outside playground, as well as a full service kitchen.

“We are so excited about this opportunity because we have so many families in need of our services,” stated Tara Meachum, Director of Head Start with Floyd County Community Action Agency. “This new location will allow us to serve nearly four times more children and families than we currently can at our Corydon Pike location. This would not have been possible without the City of New Albany’s commitment to early childhood education and the young families of New Albany.”

“I think this is a tremendous program that will benefit the local area,” stated City Councilman and American Rescue Plan committee member David Aebersold. “Moving from Corydon Pike right into the middle of one our residential districts will have immense impacts on use, and even be in walking distance for some. I’m behind this program 100% and am very excited to see the benefits to the people of New Albany.”