DAYTON ā Between navigating waitlists and balancing finances, finding quality child care can be extremely difficult.
For military families, when you take into account frequent moves and employment changes for spouses, it can be a totally different ball game.
Across the board, finding affordable and reliable child care quickly is one of the top stressors that military families face. At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, new options are building from the ground up to help take away some of that pressure.
With a steady hand, two-year-old Juno and other little construction experts dig in on WPAFBās newest project.
Her mom, Captain Erica Wolf, said itās a day sheās been looking forward to.
āSheās been very excited about using a shovel and digging in dirt,ā she said with a smile.
Breaking ground on a new child care center is all part of the ongoing process to support military families.
āIt takes anywhere from 16 to 18 months currently for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to be able to meet the child care demand. This center will increase our capacity to 304 children. It will replace our oldest existing center while increasing our capacity as well,ā said Child Development Manager Necoleia Friend.
It will also have a school age wing and in total will be able to take of children ages six weeks to 12 years old.
āIām on Area A and right now sheās in New Horizons but this is her last year in that building because sheāll age out of it essentially so as of now sheāll have to go to Area B which will mean a lot of traveling for me so once this facility is open, hopefully we can get her into that one,ā said Wolf.
Down the road on base, construction on another child development center is in full swing.
That project started last May and features a 41,000 square foot building which will serve more than 300 children.
Plans for these projects have been in the works for years and, once completed, itās not just opening doors for children but for additional employment.
āRight now our North and South complexes, each side, for a 232 capacity, their goal is at least 38 staff for 232. This is a 304,ā said Friend.
For active duty parents like Wolf, having this type of reliable care means the world.
āItās extremely important. I canāt imagine being able to do my job every day without knowing that sheās being taken well care of,ā she said.
The cost for this newest project is $38.3M and construction is expected to be completed by early summer in 2027.