When local working parents faced an absolute emergency, a high-stakes Childcare Rescue stepped in to save over 140 young children from losing their safe harbor. You might assume community youth centers only focus on after-school sports, but the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lewis Clark Valley just proved how far they will go to protect local families.
Executive Director Jon Evans walked into the newly established Fingerprints Children’s Center location in early July 2024, greeted by toddlers who showed zero fear of the 6-foot-plus stranger standing over them. That simple, heartwarming moment validated a high-risk operational pivot that saved hundreds of working parents from personal financial devastation.
Emergency Childcare Rescue Begins
The panic started quietly in late winter when River City Church announced it could no longer operate Fingerprints Children’s Center near St. Joseph Regional Medical Center. Church leadership confirmed through a private letter to parents that maintaining a full-time daycare required more staffing, money, and time than their ministry could sustain long-term.
For Center Director Jamie Berthiaume, who successfully managed Fingerprints for seven straight years, the announcement triggered an intense race against the clock. You can imagine the sheer stress of knowing nearly 140 local children would suddenly have nowhere to go in a regional system already bursting at the seams.
Most neighboring early learning facilities in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley were operating at maximum capacity with massive waiting lists. At least one nearby facility actively explored immediate building expansions just to take on a small fraction of the displaced toddlers.
Berthiaume managed to negotiate a temporary extension at the original Eighth Street facility, moving the hard deadline from early to late June 2024. That crucial window gave her the breathing room needed to seek out a permanent, highly structured corporate partner capable of stepping up.
Among all potential local non-profits, the club immediately emerged as the premier candidate equipped to handle the immense operational burden. They possessed the existing organizational infrastructure, strong financial backing, and a shared operational philosophy focused entirely on child safety and early development.
By April 2024, initial walkthroughs of the campus grounds solidified the historic partnership between both leadership teams. Leaders quickly realized that walking away meant pushing dozens of dual-income families into impossible career decisions and potential poverty.
Key Timeline Milestones
- March 2024: Church elders officially announce operational end for Fingerprints facility.
- April 2024: Joint walkthroughs occur at the DeAtley Family Foundation campus.
- June 2024: Temporary facility extension secured to allow smooth transition planning.
- July 7, 2024: Official grand reopening under club leadership on Normal Hill.
Inside The Bold Campus Shift
Transitioning a major early childhood facility across town required massive structural changes in a matter of weeks. The club chose to renovate a former Lewiston High School shop building situated on the DeAtley Family Foundation campus on Normal Hill.
Because the new physical structure provided less physical square footage than the church building, difficult choices had to be made regarding age limits. Leaders narrowed the core care focus down to toddlers aged 1 to 5 years old, migrating away from infant care and middle-school age groups.
You do not have to worry about older siblings being left out in the cold during this transition phase. The club seamlessly absorbed older school-age kids into their established before- and after-school community youth programs.
To accommodate early morning shifts for healthcare workers and local industrial labor, the club officially extended its daily operating schedule. They opened the nearby Schweitzer Clubhouse at 6:00 a.m., perfectly matching the original 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. window families relied on.
The site offers ideal logistical access because the DeAtley Family Foundation location remains an active bus stop for the Lewiston School District. Parents can easily drop off multi-age children at one central hub without altering their daily work commute.
Executive Director Jon Evans admitted that taking on toddlers was completely uncharted territory for an agency traditionally focused on older youth. Yet, the core mission of serving youth who need assistance most forced board members to enthusiastically greenlight the bold project.
Financial Relief For Working Families
Maintaining price stability was an absolute non-negotiable goal for both leadership teams during intense transition negotiations. Monthly rates were successfully locked between $775 and $990, ensuring that quality care remained affordable for local wage earners.
Beyond keeping enrollment costs steady, the acquisition created an immediate windfall of employment benefits for dedicated facility staff. Full-time early childhood educators suddenly gained employer-sponsored health insurance, structured retirement plans, and guaranteed paid vacation days.
| Operational Metric | Previous Church Setup | New Club Management |
|---|---|---|
| Age Groups Served | 4 Weeks to 11 Years | 1 to 5 Years (Club absorbs older) |
| Daily Opening Hours | 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM | 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM (Schweitzer Match) |
| Full-Time Staff Benefits | Limited Operational Perks | Health, Retirement, Paid Vacation |
| Monthly Family Cost | $775 – $990 | $775 – $990 (Fully Locked) |
You can clearly see how this takeover stabilized both the economic standing of staff members and the regional workforce. Without this transition, dozens of parents would have been forced to drop out of the local workforce entirely.
The economic ripple effects of closing a 140-child center would have devastated small businesses across the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley. When parents lose reliable care, regional workforce participation drops, driving up local hiring costs and slowing overall economic output.
By backing this initiative, the organization protected the financial independence of hundreds of local workers. According to coverage on exclusive local updates and community features, strong community safety nets are essential for economic survival in growing regional hubs.
Almost every single existing staff member chose to stay on board throughout the rapid operational transition. Their transition into full club employees restored team morale and created a unified vision for early childhood education in the area.
Building Community Safety Networks
The physical proximity to existing campus resources offers young children unprecedented learning and recreational opportunities daily. Toddlers now regularly walk over to the P1FCU Pavilion gymnasium and participate in age-tailored art projects in dedicated creative studios.
Infrastructure investments continue to roll out as crew members construct two brand-new, modern outdoor play zones. One specialized playground caters specifically to toddlers, while a second larger installation serves older elementary children on site.
These outdoor spaces are shared cooperatively with other campus entities, including Pinecrest Academy charter school, Valley Covenant Church, and Lewis Clark Christian School. This collaborative ecosystem transforms the former high school grounds into a thriving educational sanctuary.
Safety measures across the facility adhere strictly to top-tier institutional standards developed by national youth organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Enhanced security protocols, clear check-in procedures, and rigorous staff background checks give parents absolute peace of mind daily.
Essential Program Perks
- Direct Facility Access: Early entry to the P1FCU Pavilion sports facilities and gymnasiums.
- Creative Outlets: Structured daily instructional sessions inside specialized youth art rooms.
- Enhanced Security: Rigorous background checks and secure digital facility access points for staff.
- Dual Playgrounds: Age-separated outdoor play zones designed for maximum physical safety.
Director Jamie Berthiaume noted that joining forces with the club fulfilled every strict metric she held for overall child well-being. The combined institutional knowledge guarantees high-quality early childhood development for local families for years to come.
Why The Childcare Rescue Succeeded
This successful Childcare Rescue serves as a vital operational blueprint for towns across the United States facing similar daycare shortages. When religious institutions or private owners step away from early care, community non-profits must proactively step up to fill the void.
Jon Evans reflected on the intense relocation timeline, calling the ultimate success a clear result of community devotion and divine alignment. Everyone involved pushed past comfortable operational boundaries to ensure local children had a warm, loving, and reliable daily environment.
You can see the tangible results on the faces of the children entering the renovated Normal Hill building every single morning. What started as a daunting community emergency transformed into a triumph of local collaboration, corporate leadership, and civic resilience.
As school year schedules ramp up, the facility stands fully operational, fully staffed, and deeply integrated into the neighborhood fabric. Parents can head to work every day knowing their children are safe, cherished, and thriving under expert care.
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