TEACHING TREE EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING CENTER
424 PINE STREET STE 100, FORT COLLINS, CO 80524 www.teaching-tree.org

---

Organizations Filed Purposes: PROVIDING QUALITY, AFFORDABLE, EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE FOR FAMILIES OF ALL SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS.

TO PROVIDE FULL SERVICE CHILD CARE WITH SUBSIDIZED FUNDING AVAILABLE. DURING THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2018, TEACHING TREE IMPLEMENTED A PLAN FOR THE EXPANSION OF ITS CHILDCARE PROGRAM, BASED ON THE FOLLOWING NEED AND OPPORTUNITY: THE NEED: ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE CHILD CARE IS CRITICAL TO A STRONG ECONOMY AND SETS THE FOUNDATION FOR A CHILD'S FUTURE EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS. THE SHORTAGE OF AVAILABLE, QUALITY CHILD CARE IN FORT COLLINS IS ONE OF OUR CITY'S GREATEST BARRIERS TO ATTRACTING AND RETAINING THE TALENT NEEDED TO SUPPORT EMPLOYERS IN OUR COMMUNITY. IN 2017, THE EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL OF LARIMER COUNTY COLLECTED DATA DEMONSTRATING THAT A TREMENDOUS GAP EXISTS BETWEEN THE NEED FOR CHILD CARE AND THE LICENSED CAPACITY. THE EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT REPORT, 7/1/16-6/30/17, REVEALED THAT THE NUMBER OF LICENSED CHILD CARE SLOTS AVAILABLE IN LARIMER COUNTY IS FAR FEWER THAN THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN, AGE 5 OR YOUNGER, WHOSE PARENTS ARE WORKING. THE SHORTAGE IS MOST ACUTE FOR INFANT CARE, WITH AVAILABILITY ESTIMATED AT 25 PERCENT OF DEMAND. 4,456 CHILDREN AGES 0-2 ARE IN NEED OF CHILD CARE, YET ONLY 1,117 LICENSED SLOTS EXIST, AND 9,298 CHILDREN AGES 2-5 ARE IN NEED OF CHILD CARE, WHILE ONLY 5,955 LICENSED SLOTS EXIST. EXACERBATING THE PROBLEM IS HIGH COST OF CHILD CARE. IN LARIMER COUNTY, FAMILIES ARE PAYING ON AVERAGE, NEARLY 14,000 PER YEAR FOR CHILD CARE FOR ONE CHILD. YET A FULL-TIME MINIMUM WAGE JOB PAYS ONLY 21,216 A YEAR. FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS, TEACHING TREE EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING CENTER HAS BEEN PROVIDING AFFORDABLE, QUALITY EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION TO LOW- AND MIDDLE INCOME FAMILIES IN LARIMER COUNTY. OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, AS MANY AS 350 YOUNG CHILDREN HAVE BEEN ON TEACHING TREE'S WAITLIST. MORE AND MORE, FAMILIES ARE KEEPING THEIR CHILDREN ENROLLED AT TEACHING TREE. CLASSROOMS ARE REMAINING FULL AND OPEN SLOTS ARE RARELY AVAILABLE. THE OPPORTUNITY: OUR CENTER IN NORTH FORT COLLINS, LOCATED INSIDE THE CITY-OWNED UNITED WAY BUILDING AT 424 PINE STREET, HAS 6 CLASSROOMS, LICENSED TO SERVE 101 YOUNG CHILDREN. IN 2018, UPON LEARNING THAT UNITED WAY PLANNED TO RELOCATE, THEREBY VACATING THE OTHER HALF OF THE BUILDING, TEACHING TREE DEVELOPED A PLAN TO DOUBLE THE SIZE OF OUR EXISTING CENTER BY EXPANDING INTO THE OTHER HALF OF THE BUILDING. THE VISION IS TO TRANSFORM THE VACATED BUILDING SPACE INTO HIGH QUALITY CHILD CARE CLASSROOMS TO SERVE AN ADDITIONAL 114 CHILDREN, AGES 6 WEEKS TO 5 YEARS. OUR LICENSED CAPACITY WILL INCREASE FROM 101 TO 215 CHILDREN AND WILL PROVIDE GREATER ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE, QUALITY CHILD CARE FOR OUR CITY'S LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME FAMILIES. THIS PROJECT WAS IN PROCESS DURING 2019 AND WAS COMPLETED FEBRUARY 14, 2020.

---

---

Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (public 990 form dataset) from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202022129349300517_public.xml