The Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center, a longstanding pillar of the Black community on Long Island's East End, celebrated its grand reopening after a $3.3 million makeover.
The center now offers more classrooms, a computer lab, a kitchen and expanded child care services and after-school programs. It has served lower-income families on Long Island’s East End for 70 years.
Bonnie Cannon, executive director of the center, said numerous factors contribute to educational success.
"For me to be successful with the children, I need to be successful throughout the community," Cannon said. "We need to look at not only the children's education, but their moms, their dads, their families, their well-being at their home, their health, their wealth equity. Those are all of the things that we do here at the center."
New York’s budget this year includes billions of dollars to create more child care options throughout the state and add qualified caretakers to the workforce.
Gov. Kathy Hochul called the facility an investment in working families.
“We have been waiting for this because we know that child care is not a luxury," Hochul said. "Child care is a necessity and that's for our families, our moms, our parents, our economy and for the health of our state.”
