Since 2004, the Fallon Youth Club has provided services to the Fallon Community for after-school and summer care of school-age youth. After 18 years of growing their program and meeting the needs of thousands of parents, the FYC is set to provide childcare for infants aged six weeks to six years old.
Shannon Goodrick, Executive Director of FYC, presented to the county commissioners last week, reporting on the club's work over the past year and making the annual request for community support funding of $15,000. Usually, the county contributes $10,000 to the club but was asked to tack on $5,000 specifically to assist with getting the childcare service up and running.
During the past year, the FYC has served an average of 150 children per day, primarily students considered “at risk” by economic indicators.
In January 2020, Goodrick and FYC board member Gary Imelli participated in the county masterplan process, addressing recreation, youth, and childcare. At that time, childcare was identified as a significant community need.
Currently, there are five licensed childcare facilities in the Fallon community.
Goodrick said the club is sound financially, but it has not always been that way. “From 2008-15, I would say were the lean years,” she said, “but the covid relief money shored up our finances, and now we are in a situation to look at how can the youth club assist in the childcare solution and what would that process look like.”
The answer is the old Auto Mall building on South Taylor Street just north of Dairy Queen. The Fallon Youth Club Little Clubhouse will be in that facility starting in early 2024 if all goes as planned.
There will be 45 seats set aside for families that qualify for state subsidies, and eight seats will be kept available as much as possible for emergency foster care spots. “If you are a foster family and you receive a child in the middle of the night, there are no places for that child to go, and we will do our best to accept those children and keep the families functioning,” said Goodrick.
Jim Barbee responded to Goodrick’s request by reminding commissioners that there had been discussion during the budgeting process when the original $10,000 for the FYC was set aside that there would be more requests for funding because of the new activities generated at the 3C Arena. “Part of the conversation was to spread funding between new activities that would be coming forward, and that’s where we held the line on the line items.”
Additionally, Barbee said when the new FYC facility was built, there was an agreement between Mayor Tedford and Commission Chairman Pete Olsen that the county would take management of the senior center and not ask the city for additional funding to support the senior center and in exchange the city, or the programs going into the Fallon Youth Center, would not ask the county for additional funds.
According to Barbee, the city is also working with the school district and requesting the district release six cents from the tax cap that would go toward the FYC budget every year. He also reminded commissioners that they support the CARES program for after-school and summer care for 140 kids each week at the Cottage Schools facility and are committed to the costs to complete the renovations on the final building.
Commissioners approved the request for $15,000.
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