Planned intergenerational day care center under way

Columbia’s oldest and youngest residents soon could be sharing space.

Fund-raising goals have neared the halfway point for Missouri’s first intergenerational daycare center, a planned 21,000-square-foot structure that will serve seniors and young children at the same facility.

Construction of the center is planned to begin on the north side of the Boone Hospital Center campus, at the corner of Walnut and William, near the end of 2007, with an opening planned for summer 2008.

On Tuesday, May 22, during a reception at the future site of the center, Boone Hospital Foundation officials announced that $2.8 million of the $6 million goal set for a community-wide fund-raising campaign has been raised and/or donated so far.

The center will accommodate as many as 60 elderly clients and 104 children, up to age 6, at a time. Organizers plan to enable members of often-segregated generations to interact through at least eight structured activity periods per day. Research conducted in recent years suggests that elderly people with forms of dementia can benefit from the presence of children in their lives, while children have shown enhanced social skills and self-esteem when mixed with the elderly.

Jan Grossman, executive director of Boone Hospital Foundation, says community buzz about the project has been strong, despite scant public efforts to advertise the plan.

“In the few presentations we have given, we have seen a lot of community interest,” Grossman says. “The campaign cabinet has worked hard to get in front of local organizations to pitch the plan for the center.”

Grossman says contributions from the hospital board of trustees, local businesses and private parties, as well as appropriations from the state, have helped the foundation meet nearly half of the funding goal.

The Intergenerational Daycare Center, the first facility of its kind in Missouri and one of only a handful in the United States, will also present educational opportunities for local college students. Stephens College, Columbia College and Moberly Area Community College all have begun to develop intergenerational studies curricula.

Dick Hessler, a local researcher studying intergenerational activity at the University of Missouri, has helped to spearhead efforts to build the center in Columbia. During the reception, Hessler praised the support of local academic institutions.

The model for the center is ONEGeneration, an intergenerational daycare center in Van Nuys, Calif., that opened in 1993. ONEGeneration is widely hailed by national experts as the top mixed-age daycare center in the country. Representatives of ONEGeneration were in attendance at the ceremony to be recognized for their contributions to Boone Hospital during this capital campaign, a first for the Boone Hospital Foundation.

The center will begin accepting applications for open spots in the center on a first come-first served basis, says Grossman. Planned fees are $65 a day for seniors, at a minimum of three days; $200 per week for infants and toddlers; and $160 per week for pre-schoolers.