A Traverse City daycare center is searching for a new home.

For years, Angel Care Preschool & Child Care has occupied a space at 834 Hastings Street. But after a whirlwind period that has seen the daycare center contend with a global pandemic, the 2020 closure of a second location at Old Mission Peninsula School, the 2022 departure of its longtime executive director, and difficulties finding and retaining a new director, Angel Care’s leaders share with The Ticker that the nonprofit will soon be losing its lease on the Hastings Street building. Now, the organization – which is licensed to provide care for up to 48 children at its current facility – is putting out a call for the community to help it plot its next steps.

According to Board Chair Chrissie Gonzales, Angel Care’s facility issues are all tied to hurdles around staffing. Two years ago, former Angel Care Executive Director Karin Cooney resigned after nearly 14 years in the role. A new executive director, Alicia Swanson, stepped in later that year, but her tenure was relatively brief and she resigned effective March 1 of this year.

“The resignation of the former Angel Care director led us down a road of exploring several paths, all with the ultimate intent to not disrupt service to our families and staff,” Gonzales says. “Under daycare licensing regulations, without a director, we'd literally have to shut our doors until that seat is filled; daycare services cannot be rendered without an active director. So, finding a viable option to maintain our services to families was imperative, and the clock was ticking...”

That ticking clock led Angel Care to approach another local child care provider, Teddy Bear Daycare & Preschool, for help. According to Gonzales, Angel Care not only contracted with Teddy Bear “to assist in the hiring and training of a new director,” but also briefly explored a merger between the two child care entities.

The building that Angel Care occupies at 834 Hastings Street is owned by another nonprofit, the Father Fred Foundation. According to Adam Maas, another Angel Care board member, Father Fred has historically maintained “a very generous lease agreement” with Angel Care of $500 per month. But that lease agreement splintered earlier this year when Angel Care shared its intentions to merge with Teddy Bear, which is a for-profit LLC.

“During our conversations as a board around the situation as well as the long-term viability of the center, we have decided we would like to proceed with transitioning Angel Care to Teddy Bear and ultimately dissolving the 501c3 that is Angel Care,” Angel Care’s board shared with Father Fred in a letter dated January 30, 2024. The letter also noted that the planned merger hinged “on the availability of the space Angel Care occupies and whether Father Fred would be willing to extend the generous lease agreement to Teddy Bear.”

Father Fred declined that request.

“We unanimously decided as a board that supporting overhead for a for-profit business (Teddy Bear Daycare) does not align with our mission,” Father Fred Executive Director Candice Hamel tells The Ticker. Thus, Father Fred began the process of winding down its lease with Angel Care – though Hamel notes that “an offer was made [for Angel Care] to remain occupying the building for whatever time may be necessary to transition staff, children, and families.” Hamel adds that Father Fred will be looking at what to do with the Hastings building as part of a forthcoming strategic planning process.

“In light of that notice [from Father Fred], we closed the book on the merger discussion but continued to contract with Teddy Bear to assist in the search for a new director and the subsequent training of said new director,” Gonzales says. Angel Care ultimately hired that new director, Kimberly Brimhall, this spring, and now plans to carry on as a nonprofit organization, separate from Teddy Bear. Despite the change in plans, Gonzales says Father Fred is “standing in their original decision” to end the lease with Angel Care.

“So, we do need to find a new home,” she says.

That search has not proved easy. Maas says the market rate for a space comparable to Angel Care’s current digs will likely run the nonprofit around $4,000 per month – eight times what it has been paying. Additionally, Gonzales says a move to a new home will likely involve significant “retrofitting” of that facility to bring it up to the strict licensing requirements for a child care center. Given these challenges, Maas admits that Angel Care is likely going to need an outside assist to stay on its feet.

“At this point, I think it behooves us to engage the community in a conversation about the situation that we have going on, because I do not think it’s unique to our organization,” Maas says, noting that most local daycare providers are struggling with similar challenges of high overhead costs and subsisting on razor-thin margins. If Traverse City wants to have any child care at all in the future, he warns, the community is going to need to get in the game.

“Something’s got to give,” Maas says bluntly. “Something has to happen. People have to step up. Our goal right now is to get in front of people and get in their ears about the challenges we face. And candidly, we need to reach those people who have really deep pockets in our community, or that own a lot of real estate and can maybe repurpose something and help us out from a gift perspective. Because this is a community issue, and it’s not going away.”

“Full stop, our community cannot afford to lose another daycare facility,” Gonzales adds. “I personally know three families that had to relocate from the area because they couldn’t find care. So, we know that we have to find a way to stay open. We can’t let our community down. But at the same time, we need to continue to pay our staff a good wage, and we don’t want to increase our tuition costs to a point where people can’t afford the care anyway. I promise we’re going to find a way to get it done, but we’re going to need our community members and our local business owners to help us out.”