Children play at the Albany JCC, which just won a $5 million grant to expand child care and build a new fitness center.
Provided by the Albany JCC
Seniors pose on a trip with the Albany JCC, which just won a grant that will move the senior center to a more accessible part of the JCC.
Provided by the Albany JCC
ALBANY — The Albany Jewish Community Center will expand its child care programs, build an addition and rearrange its entire center, thanks to a state grant.
The center used to run 15 prekindergarten rooms, with just one infant room and two toddler rooms. Now that school districts are offering free prekindergarten, the JCC is no longer seeing as much demand for that age group. But there is a huge demand for infant and toddler rooms, which must be set up very differently.
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With part of a $5 million state grant through the new NY BRICKS program, the JCC will add one child care room. It will also change the rooms, with only five rooms for prekindergarten, while there will be six infant rooms and seven rooms for toddlers.
“Schools are offering free pre-K. We have to be cognizant of that. No matter how good our program is, free is free,” said David Posner, CEO of the JCCs of the Capital Region.
The project will also move youth services to the current fitness area, allowing them to go from a maximum of 40 children to 120 children, which is especially needed for the after-school program.
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“This is a game changer for the JCC, and I don’t think I’m overstating it when I say I think it can be a game changer for the city of Albany,” Posner said.
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Families do not have to be JCC members to sign up for child care. The JCC also accepts child care vouchers from the local departments of social services for all child care programs, including after-school care. Posner did not release the number of vouchers the center currently receives.
Only one other project in the Capital Region received an NY BRICKS grant. The Civic Center of Moreau received $712,000.
The biggest recipients were in New York City: the city’s Parks and Recreation Department received $15 million for a new community center. In addition to the Albany JCC, other nonprofits awarded grants include one YMCA and two Boys and Girls Clubs. Projects that offered affordable child care, elder care, or mental health care were prioritized.
‘Domino plan’
The Albany JCC project also includes a new fitness center and a move of the senior center nearer to the parking lot.
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“This has been something I have been thinking about for years,” Posner said of the entire plan, which he calls the “domino plan” because so many services are moving to other parts of the building.
He said the JCC “was not functional in its current state,” so he personally wrote most of the grant to apply for the comprehensive changes.
The JCC will build a 3,000-square-foot addition for the fitness center next to the current senior center area, which will be wrapped into “a brand new, more modern fitness center,” Posner said.
The senior center will move to the former youth services area, where seniors can park near a ground-level entrance.
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“Seniors can have on-level access to the building, close to where their primary activities are taking place. They won’t have to come in the (fitness) entrance where everyone works out, and share the parking lot with them,” Posner said.
He has big plans for the rest of the JCC, too, though those plans aren’t covered by the state grant.
He wants to build a kosher kitchen and remove the stage in the auditorium. With the stage gone, there would be direct access to the auditorium from the kitchen.
“It can become a real social hall,” he said. “What we use the stage for can be easily achieved through temporary risers. We don’t use it to the degree that we have to commit 50% of the space. It’s a very deep stage.”
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He also wants to add an upscale art studio for 3- and 4-year-olds. There, they would be given tools to make art and told they are budding artists.
“It’s a school of thought about design that says children deserve, as much as anyone, the right to beautiful spaces that really say to them, ‘You are a valued person,’” he said.
Then he wants to develop more of the 4.25 acres outside the building, where they recently added two yurts. More development there could enhance their summer camp, he said.
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For the rest of the work, the JCC will hold a capital campaign. No total dollar amount has been decided yet, although the state grant requires a $1.8 million match from the JCC.