Muskegon Rescue Mission started its Rise Up Together capital campaign less than a year ago, but it’s already passed the halfway mark to their goal of $5 million.
“We are at 3.7 million, so it’s moving extremely fast.” Executive Director, Dan Skoglund said.
The funds will go towards establishing a Community Resource Center, providing a centralized access point for local agencies, but Executive Director Dan Skoglund says what’s especially exciting is the preschool and daycare it’s setting up for kids and families.
“A day care is a new venture for us but there’s certainly a need in the city of Muskegon. There’s a number of families we know that their daycare costs them more than their monthly mortgage and for many people they’re having to choose ‘do I work or lose my benefits?’ And that puts them at a disadvantage economically,” he said.
The daycare will have a direct focus on low-income families. The plan is to move cycles of generational poverty to generational independence, by providing hard working parents affordable childcare, so they can work their way to financial security.
It will also give kids early educational tools, which can help them find the starting line, where many fall behind.
“They can see that they have worth and value and they have a bright, bright future,” Skoglund said.
The project will break ground in April, with a grand opening slated for the end of the year.