The Wood River community needed reliable childcare, and following three years of planning and fundraising efforts, the need has finally been met with the opening of Stick Creek Kids Child Development Center. Wood River resident and JEO Consulting Group Project Engineer Tyler Doane volunteered time and effort in establishing the new facility. Through personal donations from Tyler and his family, as well as contributions from the JEO Foundation and JEO Consulting Group, more than $10,000 was donated to Stick Creek Kids in support of the project.
Since 2013, Doane has been a part of a local group called Wood River Vision 20/20, which seeks to improve Wood River now and for generations to come. Through the group’s outreach, they noticed a consistent comment was the lack of local childcare options in Wood River with only three in-home licensed providers (two have since retired). Doane had also experienced the concern firsthand, as he and his wife struggled to find childcare for their children.
The Wood River Vision 20/20 board members eventually decided to look into establishing a childcare facility on their own. Stick Creek Kids Child Development Center serves children from six weeks to 12 years old for full-day and after-school care, providing reprieve to Wood River parents.
“It’s a relief for a lot of parents in the area, including my family,” said Doane. “This whole project has been quite the journey and seeing kids at the center having a great time makes it all worth it.”
Stick Creek Kids opened their doors to their first students on May 3, 2021 with a mission “to create a nurturing environment for children where progressive learning stimulates growing hearts and minds.” To learn more about the facility, visit https://stickcreekkids.org/.
