YMCA Child Development Center Searching for New Home After Sojourn Terminates Lease

The Grand Traverse Bay YMCA’s Child Development Center – a major local childcare program serving 55 children and dozens of families – is on an urgent search for a new home. Sojourn Church, which has housed the program for eight years on McRae Hill Road, informed the Y its lease will be terminated effective April 30 to accommodate a church expansion. Sojourn hopes to eventually offer childcare at the church again, but in the meantime, families could be scrambling to find options this winter in an already strained market while the Y looks for a new location.

The Y opened the Child Development Center in 2016 at Sojourn Church after approaching the facility about a potential partnership. Both entities describe the relationship as a productive, positive collaboration over the last eight years. The Y says it invested approximately $150,000 into renovations to meet licensing requirements in the church building, while Sojourn says it offered below-market lease rates and occasionally free rent (during the center’s initial launch and COVID). The current program has 55 children – with the capacity to go up to 70 – and a wait list for infants/toddlers, according to YMCA President and CEO Andrew Page.

Because the partnership has been so successful, Page says he was caught off guard when he scheduled a “catch-up” meeting with Sojourn in October and was handed a letter informing the Y its lease was being terminated as of April 30. While Sojourn gave the Y six months’ notice – three more months than is required under the lease terms – Page says finding a new location and going through the state licensing process can take at least a year. He delayed notifying parents of the lease termination until he could meet again with Sojourn and explore alternatives.

“I requested an opportunity to meet with the elders to convey to them how difficult it would be to find another location in six months,” Page says, adding that the Y also offered to pay higher rent. “It’s their property, of course, and they have the right to do anything they want to do with their property. But I went hat in hand and asked if there was any way we could have more time and be in a favorable position to continue this program without any disruption.” In a letter this week to parents notifying them of the termination, Page wrote that the elders “remained steadfast in their original decision and timeline” despite the Y’s plea.

Matt Herron, lead pastor and elder for Sojourn, says the termination decision “weighed on” church leadership, acknowledging the impact it will have on families. “There’s never going to be a good time to disrupt childcare,” he says. But he points to a few mitigating factors on Sojourn’s part. For one, the church has been eyeing a potential expansion since before the pandemic. “This will entail, among other things, an in-depth remodel of our lower level (where the Y center is located), and there is no way to complete this invasive of a remodel while running a childcare,” Herron says.

Sojourn informed the Y as soon as church leaders knew they were ready to move forward with renovations to give the Y as much notice as possible, Herron says. Construction will impact not only the Y but the church’s own children’s ministry, he notes, which is why Sojourn denied a longer extension to the Y. “The April 30 date allows our remodel to begin during the warm weather months, providing the opportunity for our kids ministry to use outdoor spaces on Sundays” while construction is underway, he says.

Sojourn recognizes that “our region is in desperate need of childcare, and we still want to be part of meeting that need,” Herron adds. “We think that the best use for our lower level is for a great kids ministry space on Sundays and a great childcare space on weekdays. We will be pursuing childcare options as the remodel timeline gets clarified, and we believe the result could be a childcare that will serve almost double the number of children currently being served on our property.” When asked who would operate that service, Herron says one option that has “certainly been considered” is Sojourn running its own childcare center – though other options could also be explored.

Sojourn is facing a challenge common to churches, Herron notes: trying to balance its own internal ministry and congregant needs while also serving the broader community. “We’re hopeful the YMCA can find a suitable location where they can care for kids well, and we’re also hopeful Sojourn can continue to play a part in increasing childcare access in the region,” he says.

The nonprofit YMCA also views childcare as a vital community service, according to Page. “This isn’t about losing revenue,” he says of his concerns over the program’s disruption. “Our childcare is break even and sometimes even a deficit branch. We’re not in it to make money. We provide it as a core competency of the Y and keep prices relatively competitive.” All options are on the table for a new location, including a potential future expansion on an existing Y property. But building or purchasing a brand-new facility “isn’t a reality” right now given the Y’s limited resources, he says. “Our focus is on finding an existing space we can utilize,” Page says.

The organization is looking for something similar to Sojourn, which provides 7,500-8,000 square feet, several 700-1,000-square-foot classrooms, bathrooms, and modest kitchen, office, gymnasium, and library areas. While the Y is working feverishly before April 30, Page also wants to be realistic with families. “We know people will need childcare options, and they may want to get on wait lists now for that,” he says.

The Child Development Center is the second major childcare center whose lease has been terminated this year. Angel Care Preschool & Child Care also had to search for a new home after a series of challenges led to the nonprofit losing the lease on its years-long home in a building owned by the Father Fred Foundation on Hastings Street. Angel Care has since partnered with Church of the Living God to open a new childcare center in the Birmley Road church that can accommodate up to 60 children, with Garfield Township planning commissioners approving the project plans in November. However, Angel Care too must still undergo the lengthy state licensing process and required renovations before it can open its doors at the church.

Some local agencies have highlighted resources available for families seeking childcare assistance in recent weeks. A Northwest Education Services press release notes there are more than 90 slots in Great Start Readiness Program classrooms across the region for four-year-olds, which are available in four and five-day schedules and open to families of any income level if students attend full time. More information on GSRP (and other prenatal-age 5 programs) is available here. Help Me Grow Michigan is another resource that provides a “one-door access point for families seeking early childhood services in our region.” The website provides a portal to resources, such as the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, and access to a live person to help connect parents to a variety of services across the area.