ABOVE: St. Luke’s Administrator Margaret Brandt, left, and Tri-Valley Head Start Manager Lindsay Vokaty look over some blueprints for how the upcoming Head Start Center will be laid out in a wing of the St. Luke’s Lutheran Care Center.

BLUE EARTH – A partnership between Tri-Valley Opportunity Council and St. Luke’s Lutheran Care Center has paved the way for a new Head Start Center to open on the care center’s grounds.

The space on St. Luke’s grounds was originally used as a child care center before the operators of that service relocated to a larger facility. It was then used as an adult day care center, but it will now go back to its roots via Head Start.

A spark for this opportunity came in 2023, when a change in circumstances necessitated a new place to offer Head Start.

“We rented from a church in Winnebago, and they are planning to sell the church,” Tri-Valley Head Start Manager Lindsay Vokaty said. “They own the little building that we were using for our Head Start services. When they let us know, ‘We’re going to be selling everything,’ we were like, ‘Oh, darn it. Okay. Well, we got to go find somewhere else.'”

It wasn’t an easy choice, either. Vokaty said they had a spreadsheet of between 20 to 30 locations and opportunities where they compared and contrasted several variables. In the end, she said this location and area were the best fit.

“We started to really look at where our families live and work,” Vokaty said. “When we did an analysis of all the data of our current families, we really saw that Blue Earth was where the majority of the kids and families lived and worked. We’re like, ‘Let’s try to look around and see what’s available here.’ We came across this awesome partnership with St Luke’s.”

The funds to do the project came from state and federal grants applied for by Tri-Valley, which will cover the full cost. Because it has always been used for care purposes, some of what is needed, such as bathroom placements, is already done. The space is still in the middle of construction, including a few walls in progress to re-segment the space into different areas for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

ABOVE: Tri-Valley Head Start Manager Lindsay Vokaty walks through the wing of St. Luke’s Lutheran Care Center under construction for the upcoming Head Start Center, laying out where each classroom, staff area and even an outdoor playground will be.

Compared to their previous space, Vokaty said they will have their own parking lot, a much larger outdoor area with a larger playground and a larger interior space. They are planning to have eight spaces for infants, eight for toddlers and 17 tp 20 spots for preschoolers. It will be an open application process.

“Every single year we do applications,” Vokaty said. “As soon as our staff come back on, usually around April or May, we start to recruit families. We send out information, flyers and posters, and let families know, ‘If you need care and you qualify for services, go ahead and fill out an application.’ Every year, we select families based on the new applications.”

In addition to the opportunities provided to parents and children, it is also projected to add around 20 jobs to the community for teachers, relief staff and bus staff. Vokaty said this number does not include substitute teachers, which would change depending on need.

Once the space is complete, Vokaty said they plan to host a large open house. This will allow the community to have their questions answered as they explore the space and learn about available opportunities, including those for low income families within poverty guidelines and those working in agriculture.

This development follows up on the recent opening of Building Blocks on the Lakeview Methodist nursing home campus in Fairmont, which currently has space for 99 students as a day care center. While this is the first time Tri-Valley has done something like this, Vokaty was not surprised by arrangements like this coming to fruition.

“Across Minnesota, child care is a shortage everywhere,” she said. “People are getting really creative with where they can find space to meet that need, especially in rural parts of the state. I think the partnership with nursing homes especially is a really great idea, because kids can bring joy to so many people, and having different generations and kids getting to spend time with maybe some of the residents.”

St. Luke’s Administrator Margaret Brandt echoed this principle of beneficial and enjoyable inter-generational opportunities.

“Our residents, they just love to have the little kids around,” she said. “It works nice being in the nursing home, we’ll provide the meals and help with all that. It’s all right here.”

Currently, the plan is for them to open in June. For more information or to inquire about applying, call Center Manager Randi Rieffer at 218-281-5832.