Suppressing tears of gratitude, Amy Eckhart, owner of The Growing Place early child care business in Durango, said the new space she’s acquired is the best location she’s ever had.
She was standing in the living room of a house owned by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango next door to the church itself at 419 San Juan Drive.
The Growing Place moved into the house to continue business after losing its lease at Durango Health and Rehabilitation Center following the center’s purchase by The Ensign Group, a publicly traded investment company specialized in assisted living and rehabilitative care.
Eckhart was devastated when she was informed last year her lease would not be renewed. She had operated out of the center for 17 years. Her clients – parents and families of the children she looked after – rushed to find new providers, which are hard to come across in the child care desert of La Plata County.
The lease was originally going to expire in December, but Eckhart worked out a deal with the center to keep her lease through the end of June.
Church board member Sherrod Beall said when she learned of Eckhart’s predicament, she knew the church had to do something.
She looped in Jamie Boyce, minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango, and they contacted Eckhart with a proposal to relocate The Growing Place to the church.
Boyce said Unitarian Universalists’ mission is to “love courageously, inspire spiritual growth and work for justice.”
Accommodating a much-needed community asset like child care pairs nicely with the church’s vision, she said.
“When we ask, ‘How are we living with love in our lives,’ it means making sure children are cared for and that families can flourish in our city, and that’s what leads us here,” she said.
The church had never taken on a project like it and there was a lot to learn, she said. It was a first step onto untrodden grounds full of invisible barriers and unanticipated challenges.
Church members gained a greater understanding of La Plata County’s child care crisis, reflected in other communities across the country, and a deeper understanding of the regulatory hoops child care providers must jump through to be successful.
The church brought on Janet Wiley, an architect, for help navigating city code and other local government regulations.
“The planning department, the building department, the fire department, the licensing department,” Beall said. “Janet helped us, which I don’t think we could have done without her.”
Wiley said getting approvals turned out to be more of a hassle than she anticipated. She thinks the process could be streamlined.
“I think the big problem is the fire department, the planning department and the building department do not communicate,” she said.
Durango Community Development Director Jayme Lopko said the city’s approval process can be challenging, and the city is in the midst of evaluating its processes for improvements.
Another significant challenge still lies ahead: state taxation.
Churches typically enjoy a property tax-exempt status except for when they bring a for-profit business onto their grounds. Homing The Growing Place at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango puts the church on the hook for taxes on any revenues surpassing $10,000, Beall said.
She said the tax rate ranges from 21% to 27%, a daunting figure to the church, which doesn’t have an income besides donations.
“If we want to really show up to the crisis of child care in our city, we have to have this conversation about what’s hard and what we can do as a community to lessen, decrease those barriers,” Boyce said.
She said the church isn’t alone in wanting to help its community and its success invites other communities, particularly other faith-based communities, to identify more opportunities to serve the greater community.
“I know there’s more opportunities out there,” she said.
The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango is accepting donations to defray permitting fees and other costs associated with opening a child care facility on its grounds. Donations on behalf of The Growing Place can be made online at https://bit.ly/4o4OEtU.
cburney@durangoherald.com
