BAKER — Fallon County's first licensed childcare facility is continuing to recover from another road block after a severe summer storm damaged the building.
The storm flipped the facility upside down in July, just a few weeks after a proposed mill levy that would've paid for start-up costs was shot down by voters.
The childcare facility organizers worked closely with Eastern Montana Economic Development Authority (EMEDA) to come up with the funding to get the facility up in running following that vote, but then the storm hit, slowing the process down.
For Baker residents, it's a need that's become more pressing in the past few years, even forcing some parents to quit their jobs.
"It was almost impossible to find a babysitter," said Baker mother Teja Deitz. "I eventually went to staying at home with (her son) just because there was no one to watch my child while I worked."
Because of the lack of licensed childcare facilities, many residents rely on family or friends who are running daycares out of their homes.
"A lot of people are using family or grandparents," said Baker mother Tasha Losing. "And then you kind of lose that grandma because she's now babysitter during the week."
That desperate need was a big reason why the issue was brought to the primary ballot in June. Childcare Facility Director Carrie Schwartz said that if the levy had passed it would've made a huge difference.
"It would have had probably over 100 kids that we would have been able to care for," Schwartz said. "With that licensing and all of that, just being able to provide that level of care, too."
Instead, it was back to the drawing board. With the help from EMEDA, they were able to come up with enough funding to fit close to 26 children in a facility, which was a trailer that was delivered in early July.
"It's not exactly what we need, but it was a start to get the ball rolling," Schwartz said.
But before that facility could stand on its own, a massive storm hit much of Eastern Montana, flipping the building upside down.
"I saw this picture of a building flipped over, and it didn't hit me at first," Schwartz said. "When I realized it was ours, my heart just dropped. There was so much work that had gone into just getting to that point after the levy failed."
Basically all of the money that was going to be used to cover start-up costs was instead put toward restoration of the building. Currently, construction teams are in the process of making sure the facility is up to code.
Losing is also a chair member of EMEDA and said it's been challenging.
"This project feels like a roller coaster," Losing said. "It's been tough because like you said, you see something fail and you think maybe you're done."
But this group has constantly refused to give up. The building now stands right side up, and the group is hoping to receive lightly used donations in the form of cribs, books, toys and other items from the community to open the facility in December.
The group is also accepting monetary donations at this GoFundMe. Schwartz will be in Billings to collect donations on Oct. 28.
So far, the response has been amazing.
"It's just very emotional," Schwartz said. "I almost get tears in my eyes that people are stepping up the way they are."
