Children and Friends break ground on new facility, unveils name change
Black Mountain day care honors mayor with surprise announcement
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
John DeWitt, left, unveils the new name of the Children and Friends Enrichment Center, which broke ground on a 10,000-square-foot facility on March 4. The new building will be known as the Donald S. Collins Early Learning Center, recognizing Black Mountain Mayor Don Collins, right, for his support of the project.
There was a palpable buzz inside the sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Black Mountain, March 4, as community leaders, staff and supporters of Children and Friends Enrichment Center gathered to break ground on a long-awaited new facility.
However, before the first shovel turned over soil to commence construction on the 10,000-square-foot building, the day care marked its new era with a surprise name change.
“Today would not have been possible without the tremendous support of the people or groups who will speak here in the next few minutes,” day care board member John DeWitt said to open the event. DeWitt, who played a key role in the effort to secure a new home for the nonprofit organization, was joined on stage by First Baptist Church Pastor Jeremy Shoulta, Children and Friends board chair Linda Hobson, Buncombe County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara and Black Mountain Mayor Don Collins.
The past year for the day care had been a “difficult” one for the day care, according to DeWitt, as the center’s governing board—The Swannanoa Valley Child Care Council, Inc.—contended with building maintenance issues in the preschool’s current location while attempting to secure funding and a site for a new facility.
Children and Friends, which has been operating in Black Mountain since 1979, began searching for a new location in 2016. Representatives cited deteriorating conditions of the building currently leased by the day care and a desire to expand to meet growing demands for child care in the region for the move.
In 2017, the Town of Black Mountain agreed to allow Children and Friends to lease property at Veterans Park to build a facility. The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, in September of 2018, provided a $200,000 grant to assist in funding the project.
The day care was forced to abandon plans for the Veterans Park site in September of 2019, after the costs related to developing the necessary infrastructure were too high. The congregation of First Baptist voted unanimously in October to allow Children and Friends to build on a parcel of the church’s 4.45-acre property near the center of Black Mountain.
The two parties agreed upon a 15-year lease with an option for an additional 15 years.
The modular building is currently being built in Georgia, DeWitt said, and the 14, 70-by-14-foot buildings will be assembled on the site. The day care plans to open the doors of the new facility before July 1.
“We, as a church, have decided to embrace and welcome this change,” Shoulta said. “We look forward to partnering with Children and Friends, as we dream about the future and we’re thankful to be a part of it.”
Beach-Ferrara said it was a “great honor” for Buncombe County to be one of the many sources of funding for the project, which will allow the day care to eventually expand from its current capacity of 70 children to 170.
“I think we need to hold this project up as a model of the kind of cross-sector funding that can go into early childhood education and help us expand access so that every child in every family in Buncombe County that wants access to a quality early childhood education can do so,” she said.
DeWitt unveiled a new name for the building: the Donald S. Collins Early Learning Center.
“The board considered various names when deciding what to name the new facility,” he said of the decision to name the facility after the Black Mountain mayor. “It soon became clear that there was one person in Western North Carolina who has been a driving support for our project, and is recognized by many as a person who has done a lot for children and people in this area.”
Collins was emotional as the audience stood and applauded the announcement.
“When we first came up with the idea of doing this (project), he was the first person I talked to,” DeWitt said. “He said, ‘whatever we need to do, I’ll take care of it.’ He has taken care of it, and we truly appreciate what you do.”