Children's center announces plans to close

DUNDEE--Families with students at the Dundee Children's Center were informed of the plans for the facility to close in a letter dated April 25. The center currently provides care for children from ages 3 to 12, with before and after school programs including universal pre-kindergarten.
"It is with great sadness we write this to inform you that the Dundee Children's Center will be permanently closing," the letter states. "The last day of before and after school daycare will be June 17, 2022 and the last day of UPK3 will remain June 22, 2022."
Jaimi Lynn Shoemaker, a woman who grew up in Dundee and attended the children's center as a child, is currently trying to put together a new board of directors to take over from the current one in order to maintain the center's charter and try to keep it open.
"The current board sent a letter out to families on April 25 that they were dissolving the children's center and closing it," said Shoemaker. "So my initial thought was that the center has been here for 46 years from what I can figure out and why would an organization that has been such a staple of the community close so abruptly?"
In emails sent to Shoemaker by Dundee Children's Center officials, the issues standing in the way of the center remaining open include staffing - particularly the resignation of the current director and scheduled leaves of two employees.
"With the current issues in the world, we expect to experience staffing shortages in the fall, as well as a continued lack of volunteer board members to oversee the care of the daily issues that transpire while running a not-for-profit organization," the letter continued.
However, Shoemaker said it was made clear to her that finances are not the issue.
According to Shoemaker, "These are temporary issues, they aren't long term and they can be navigated and I know there are people in Dundee who are interested in helping me try."
A Facebook page titled, "Save the Dundee Children's Center" was created on April 28 to help community members connect in the process.
Shoemaker has already been in contact with the current board about the possibility of a new board coming on in an attempt to solve these issues and keep the center open.
"This center has been a mainstay of Dundee and provides an important service to so many parents...If financially it was in trouble that's another story, but financially they are fine, this is truly based upon staffing," Shoemaker added.
The community Facebook page address is https://www.facebook.com/Save-the-Dundee-Childrens-Center-110285701669182/ and Shoemaker can be reached by email at jls477@cornell.edu.