By Chelsea Mcbeath

As child-care gets harder to find and even more difficult to afford, some have found hope in the new child care facility coming near the University of Louisville’s Belknap campus – like junior biology major Alex Rodriguez, who was fortunate enough to secure a spot for his two year old daughter.
“If you qualify for the scholarship with Scholar House then they provide you with all of your child-care for free,” said Rodriguez. Scholar House also provides spots to everyone working toward degrees in their program at the child care facility. The daycare was so highly anticipated that spots were  given off in a lottery between faculty, staff and students.
Director of the project, Kenni Deddens, said as of right now the facility is full, except for limited spots in groups of two, three and four.
Some might recall the old daycare that was discontinued by U of L, but Deddens said this situation is different.
“The old daycare was a number of years ago, and I am not sure of the staff credentials,” Deddens said. “This is a different vision. This is not a day care but instead a program of professional care.” Deddens agrees that the need for child care is on the rise and hopes to provide it, even though expectations are high.
According to Deddens, a highly qualified staff, comprised of individuals from across the United States, will work with the children.
This new service also provides U of L with a place for student teachers specializing in early childhood education.
Striving to educate young children on the importance of learning, staff members will diligently work to teach passion and work ethic.
“So many young people out there do not vote and are not politically savvy, which translates to they do not count,” said Deddens. “Until we look at our children as the future, we have no future.”
This building will help encourage education and provide the world with children that will be fully capable of leading a nation when their time comes believes Deddens.
This program is expected to help many students with free childcare which will also be funded through Family Scholar House. Dr. Deddens also stated the new child-care program will provide the people who live in the Family Scholar Housing with close, quality, and affordable child-care.”
Having child-care so close will help me more than anything,” said Rodriguez.     However the child-care center has been late to open. Having its opening date pushed back several times, as of now Sept. 22 is the ideal deadline.
This  program is funded by the Family Scholar House. The Family Scholar House is the driving force behind the new Program of Professional care.     Although the University donated $1.5 million to this cause, most of the project is being funded through Family Scholar House. As advertised by Deddens, the Family Scholar House has one goal in mind: break the poverty cycle by building a firm foundation in today’s youth.