Our Mission & Approach

Our mission is to contribute positively to the development of children, families, and community by providing high quality early care and education, parental support and training, and community volunteer opportunities. The 112 children in our programs each year range from infants of six weeks to children of school age.

The dedicated volunteers who founded the Nursery in 1916 cared for children day and night, doing all the cooking and laundry themselves and relying on donated equipment, coal, and other supplies. That tradition of community support continues today, enabling the Nursery to serve families of all economic groups with a sliding scale of fees.

Under Board mandate to maintain a Nursery census of families from all financial circumstances, the center pursues the strategy of attractive, high-quality programs with financial aid, supporting families whose incomes meet Low Income definitions.

Seventy-seven percent of participating families in our infant and preschool programs are subsidized by the Nursery’s multiple source funding. Our diversified funding base includes parents' fees, individual gifts, special events, foundations, and corporate grants.