Pure Nebraska: Milford nonprofit gets new building to combat childcare deficit

By Grace McDonald Published: Dec. 19, 2023 at 11:21 AM CST

MILFORD, Neb. (KOLN) - Moving slowly through the streets of Milford, a truck moved a 56 by 34 foot house from Southeast Community College to the Bellwood Mennonite Church. The 60 ton building will become the new Milford Childhood Learning Center.

Students in the Building Construction Technology program started work on the home in August.

“We handle the construction of the home, and then the HVAC program does the heating and air,” said Steve Eisenmann, the class instructor. “The plumbing program will do the plumbing and the electrical will do the electrical. So we basically do everything in house at SCC. It’s all student built.”

As a part of the two-year program, the SCC students construct a home in 16 weeks and auction it off. But this year, the semester project was sold to a local nonprofit trying to start a childcare center in Milford.

“We’ve had this timeline set with SCC, and this has kind of been the plan from the get go,” said Kylie Schildt, the Milford Childhood Learning Center. “My son is 19 months and my daughter is three and a half, and you just want to have a space that you feel good about dropping your kids off everyday.”

According to Schildt, about 50% of children in Milford ages 0-5 and about 90% of infants are in need of childcare. In fact, there are only two infant spots in the Milford area.

“There’s a different economic layout for every small community in Nebraska, and I think that’s interesting for rural communities because they do each have their own kind of story,” Schildt said. “Milford’s story is interested in its own that we’re a very external community. A lot of people drive outside for work everyday.”

Schildt now drives her children to Seward since her previous local childcare provider retired this past spring. Schildt became one of many parents struggling to find a childcare center with open spots, so started writing grants and lobbying for a nonprofit childcare center in Milford.

“Quality childcare is extremely important for small communities, rural communities,” Schildt said. “There’s massive economic impacts within rural communities that childcare supports. We have a huge workforce issue within our state as a whole.”

Schildt said the Milford Childhood Learning Center already has about 30 submissions from families looking for care, and if all of them were submitted, the center would only have five open spots. About 75% of the center is funded by local, state and federal grants, and the rest is through donations.

The goal of the nonprofit’s board members is nearing after the house was moved. Tieken House Moving drove the childcare center next to the Bellwood Mennonite Church. This is the third house Tim Tieken has moved for Southeast Community College in Milford.

“SCC is great to work with,” Tieken said. “We move a hundred houses a year, and they’re by far one of the best outfits to work with.”

Students from the Building Construction Technology program also came to witness the move.

“It’s quite the site to see a truck pull a structure I just built,” said Cole Hottovy, an SCC student. “I’d say the project made me a better leader overall.”

Schildt said the location will hopefully make transportation and accessibility easier for parents. The next steps are renovating four classrooms and an outdoor play area and getting it approved by the fire marshal. Eventually, the center will accommodate over 35 children.

“It’s a really good addition for the community, so seeing it here in town will be nice,” said Madison Mills, an SCC student. “We’ll just drive by it everyday and knowing that there’s kids in there, and it’s actually being put to good use will be nice.”

The Milford Childhood Learning Center has a $1.9 million campaign goal. At this point, the nonprofit still in needs about $145,000 that will also go toward paying staff and making the services more affordable. Due to grant deadlines, the board is pushing to be licensed and operational by Dec. 31.

Visit the Milford Childhood Learning Center website to learn more about their mission, donate, apply for a staff position or express interest in enrollment.

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