SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (KMTR) -- A longtime dream for local non-profit the Relief Nursery is about to come true, as project backers broke ground today on the organization's new building in Springfield that will help keep local children safe from abuse and neglect.
The Relief Nursery has been raising money for the new building since 2008. Now, the non-profit has raised just over 3.1 million dollars, for total 4.4 million dollar project to build its own building in Springfield.
Project backers broke ground on the building Tuesday, June 19th, 2012, which will be built on South 42nd Street in Springfield, near Mount Vernon Elementary School. 2.9 million dollars of the money raised will be used to build the building.
The Relief Nursery says they're now able to break ground on the project because of a former special education teacher and local philanthropist, Robin Jaqua, who made a significant donation to the project.
Ultimately, the Relief Nursery aims to help kids and families out of a cycle of crime and abuse through early childhood education, daycare services, home visitations, parenting classes and more.
Today, the Relief Nursery only has one classroom rented in Springfield, leaving many of the local parents to travel for its services.
“We're bussing a lot of children from this area over to eugene to service them, so it will be a nice resource to have classrooms here so that families don't have to ride the bus so far and get more time during the day actually in the classroom,” says Scott South, the President of the Board of Directors for the Relief Nursery.
“To be able to get to where we are at today, this is so exciting, you can see the amount of people here, the backers of this nursery are super excited,” says Scott Williams, president of the capital improvement campaign for the project.
The Relief Nursery is hoping to raise another 1.3 million dollars for this project to pay for three years of operating costs upfront.
Construction on the building should begin the week of June 17th, 2012. The project should be finished by March 2013.
Once the building is finished, the plan is to keep the facility in Eugene running as well.
The official name of the building will be the "Relief Nursery Robin Jaqua Child and Family Center."
