Houchen Center’s daycare to close

a cultural and historic landmark in south central el paso is having to cut back on major programs or possibly close them altogether. and the changes are leaving some parents stunned and scrambling for a solution. abc-7’s andrew j. polk has a closer look at the strong emotions, factors involved in the decision … and the impact it will have on parents in the community. it’s tonight’s top story. parents who rely on the houchen community center’s daycare say they were stunned to find out it would be shutting down. for some, that raised questions about how the entire organization is being handled. “but there’s so many funds out there with the government, so many private enties wanting to donate money – was it been known before it was going this route, there’s multiple resources that could have been reached out to.” bu houchen board president laura neill says that leadership tried right up to last thursday’s decision to find a way to keep the daycare going… enrollment declines led to price hikes, which further depressed enrollment. the deficit at the daycare threatened the function of the center as a whole. “but w can’t get grant money to pay for salaries. grant money can’t pay for the lights. grant money has to be used for programs, which is what we want to do, and what we can do. but right now, salaries and utilities are what’s killing us.” executive director kathy jewell is one of the employees whose paychecks stop after the 15th… she says that saving the program would have required doubling its income. “that was really tough on som of these parents. we live in one of the poorest if not the poorest zip code – the 01 zip code – in el paso.” she says this decision was not reached easily. ” stand beside them. i’m a grandma and those babies are mine too. you know, you walk in there and they go “kathy!” i going to miss that. when you have a little one run up to you and know your name – i’m going to miss that. it’s grief and it’s change.” andre j. polk, abc-7. if you want to find out more about the houchen center or contact them, you can find the link on our website, k-v-i-a dot com. the suspect involved in a police shooting yesterday is facing charges.