Monday, June 16, 2008
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Christian Child Care begins turnaround

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[June 16, 2008]  The windows on the front of the building tell it all. There is a new attitude that is rapidly filling the halls and classrooms at the Christian Child Care center. On one window is "Believe in us." On another is the slogan "Watch us grow." When talking with the new director of the facility, it becomes immediately obvious that these slogans are not just for show. She believes them 100 percent and then some.

GlassColeen (yes, there is just one "l") Moore is about as enthusiastic and positive a person as one would ever meet. Only on the job six weeks, she is saying she can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel and foresees the Christian Child Care facility growing. Just a few months ago the center was burdened with stories of financial problems as the possibility of closure made the rounds throughout the community.

Moore, currently a Springfield resident, says she has landed her dream job. She says she has always been a fan of the city of Lincoln, going back to the 1980s when she visited on assignments for the Springfield Girl Scouts organization. She says this is the community where she wants her two small children, ages 7 and 8, to go to school and grow up. She also says that although she is just 44 years old, this -- the Christian Child Care center -- is where she wants to be until retirement age.

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Such positive thoughts are uncommon for someone taking over the helm of a child care facility that broke the news of a dire balance sheet just a few months ago. "I was given the luxury of knowing we had a long, difficult climb to get where we need to be. I like the challenge," Moore said with a smile.

Moore, whose husband, Eric, works for the Illinois secretary of state, finds Lincoln more like her childhood home of Carlinville than Springfield is. It is this personal relationship that she already has with the community that makes her believe she is where she should be, where she is supposed to be.

A graduate of Blackburn College with a degree in speech communications, Moore also is rapidly approaching enough credit hours to earn a degree in early childhood.

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She has had a taste of big-city life, working at a child care facility in New York City for a few years before returning to central Illinois. "If I never ride another subway in my life, that will be just fine with me," Moore laughed.

Besides several posts in child care, she also was the "wish maker" for the area's "Make a Wish Foundation," which she said was both personally rewarding but also very sad. It is this well-rounded education and experience with children that earned Moore the nod as the facility's new director.

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Currently the center has 63 children ranging in ages from 6 months to 12 years old. It is not lost on her that more families and their children using the facility will help make the center financially sound, and one of her goals is to show that the center is headed in the right direction and that parents can confidently enroll their children at Christian Child Care.

The always enthusiastic Moore said that one of her toughest jobs was when she initially had to trim some staff to balance current children in daily attendance. "Hopefully, as attendance rises I can hire them back," she reflected.

Recent contributions from all over have given Moore a great deal of hope. "We have received over $25,000 in contributions, and every day the mail carries more blessings as we receive checks from all over to help pay off our debt and improve our center," she said. That is a key to growing the Christian Child Care Center, according to Moore -- "paying off debt while judiciously using some funds to make sure everything the children have is the best."

Banks

Moore is also very positive about her staff, calling them "amazing," and wanted to point out that of the 12 current staff members, all but two are teacher-qualified.

There is a great deal more work to be done by everyone associated with the center, but Moore is optimistic that things will continue to get better every day. After all, that is what dreams are made of, and this is her dream job.

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The Christian Child Care center is located at 721 Wyatt Ave. in Lincoln. The phone number is 217- 732-5770.

[By MIKE FAK]

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