RICHFORD, Vt. -
A child care center in Richford, Vermont has been given one month to shut down.
The "People's Plaza" has been open for 12 years. Now, state emergency funds for the center have run out.
A teacher from the center contacted us, so I went out to get some answers.
The child care center feels blind sided, but when I spoke with the DCF Commissioner, he says that money was always intended to be temporary. Regardless, its left families scrambling.
"That was our goal, that was our dream," Tammy Ryea said.
Sisters, Tammy Ryea and Wendy Mercy opened a child care center in Richford 12 years ago... Hundreds of newborns, toddlers and teens have spent time there - but after Friday, the seats will be empty.
"It was a surprise," Ryea said.
For more than a decade, the sisters relied on the state to stay open... 112 thousand of their 355 thousand dollar budget was grant funded through the Department for Families and Children.
"This last award for the strengthening families grant, we were cut 75 percent," Ryea said.
But when I contacted the state, they said the money has been temporary all along - and that this years grant required daycare's to have a plan to be self sufficient in the future.
"Without that funding we are not sustainable," Ryea said.
Ryea says the quality care and healthy meals they provide to the low income area are necessities. More than 40 children have until Friday to find a replacement. And not only did several families have to scramble and find a new daycare for their children, but this loss in funding also means nine people are out of work. Six teachers, one cook and two sisters.
"It's scary, we don't know what we're going to do," Ryea said.
Ryea says unfortunately there's no way to appeal the grant that was denied. But the state did give "People's Plaza" some money to help ease the difficulty of closing.
