KGWN –Cheyenne, WY– Scottsbluff, NE News,Weather, SportsNew Loan Could Help Solve Day Care Problems

New Loan Could Help Solve Day Care Problems

The need for day care has been a growing problem for the city of Cheyenne.

Many day cares have even had to turn away families because they simply don't have the resources for more kids.

Earlier this month the Wyoming Business Council began offering a loan program specifically to benefit child day care in the state.

The WBC saw there was a need for more child care and began talking about using their money from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development agency for a program like this back in 2009.

"It was something that we could do with these funds and we thought that it was time to take a look at a program like that since it was clearly a need in our state," Julie Kozlowski said.

To qualify for the loan you must be a licensed day care provider or be able to use the loan to make improvements that would allow you to be licensed.

One place that has applied for the loan to make upgrades so they can take in more kids is kidSTEP Learning Center.

"We weren't able to get the amount we would need from a bank and this program provides for centers such as kidSTEP here. Loans up to $50,000 and the project is looking like it could be well into the 20 or $30,000 range," Shane Moore said.

Moore says the business council has been very helpful in trying to help them obtain the loan.

"Julie Kozlowski's been very helpful and Farrah Reah from the Women's Business Council has been very helpful meaning that emails get returned and phone calls get returned real quickly," Moore said.

He sees the possibilities that this loan can bring to places around Cheyenne.

"I think this would allow some of the already established day care that have maybe been thinking about doing infant care to actually expand and possibly get into providing additional services to families that have younger children," Moore said.

This loan could be the beginning of a solution to Cheyenne's need of more day cares by providing the financial assistance that kidSTEP Learning Center as well as other day cares need to get started.