LEWISTON – A little-used fitness room will soon be part of the YWCA of Central Maine’s growing day-care center, which plans to accept children as young as 1 year old.
Demand for child care is rising, especially for little ones, said Anne Craigs, executive director of the Lewiston YWCA chapter. One of the area’s biggest centers, Smart Start in Auburn, closed last month, further boosting demand for day care.
“I think we’ll be full on Day One,” Craigs said.
The nonprofit group plans to sell off the treadmills and weight machines in its basement fitness room and use the proceeds to install new carpeting, add a door and redecorate. Several older children in the 40-child day care will move downstairs while the new kids, ages 1 to 2-and-a-half, will move into the space they leave behind.
The former fitness room will get a lot more use.
Only about 12 people regularly used the machines, which the YWCA hopes to sell to a local gym, Craigs said.
“We’re taking bids,” she said Friday morning, standing in the basement room where no one was exercising. “If someone makes us a fair offer, we’d like to sell it all in one deal.”
It ought to be a logical change for folks who know the organization, she said.
About 90 percent of the people who attend the YWCA either use the East Avenue facility’s pool or have a connection to its day care. The remaining 10 percent go to counseling and intervention programs.
Nationally,about 350,000 children attend YWCA programs.
“It’s core to our existence,” Craigs said.
Eventually, they hope to care for infants, too. It is costly. One person may care for no more than four infants at a time, according to state rules.
“When it makes sense for us to do it, we will,” Craigs said.
YWCA leaders hope to complete the change and add the children, 10 in all, by the middle of February.
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