News, Culture and NPR for Central & Northern Michigan
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
91.7FM Alpena and WCML-TV Channel 6 Alpena are off the air. Click here to learn more.

Michigan ahead of schedule to open 1,000 new child care programs by 2024

Michigan is way ahead of schedule to create 1,000 new child care programs by the year 2024.

Already, 687 new centers have opened in the past year with the help of grants from the $100-million dollar program. It's in response to a serious child care shortage around the state.

Tenesia Evans owns the just-opened Boss Baby Early Learning Center in Eastpointe. She says she couldn't have done it without startup funding.

"It has really been a dream come true, for over 20 years of owning my own in home day care, my center has become a reality." said Evans.

Evans says the need for more child care is obvious. She says her 30-child facility is already full, and there's a waiting list of 100 families.

Tracy Samilton covers energy and transportation, including the auto industry and the business response to climate change for Michigan Radio. She began her career at Michigan Radio as an intern, where she was promptly “bitten by the radio bug,” and never recovered.