The new childcare center in Richland is open and growing. It opened in December. The building is a 4,620 square foot facility and is licensed for up to 65 children.  

Director Tabatha Unternahrer explained how the center came to be, “They’re doing research on if we meet the needs for the community, and there was a lack of childcare facilities in the area, especially in the rural areas. So Early Childhood Iowa started to meet with community members and the community board, and they ended up forming the Richland Iowa Childhood Organization. When that board was started, they started the RACCO Board (Richland Area Child Care Organization) and did fundraising things so they could eventually build a facility. They ended up building the facility and Jerry Robinson was a large benefactor, so our facility is named the Jerry B. Robinson Childcare Center. They house the Richland Area Child Care Organization where we are at now.” 

Robinson donated $1 million to the project. 

Untrernahrer shared what the facility offers, “There are going to be some summertime things, but our big one is that we are offering preschool programs and then we will be doing childcare before and after. We are doing family events and we just had our Christmas family event for a few hours. We came through and each classroom had different activities that they could do and take with them. Every couple of months we will be doing something new. So around Valentine’s and so on, there is another one, where a free thing for the community, where you can take your kids out and have fun.” 

The Richland center currently has three staff members, and will look to expand staff as enrollment grows.