A bulldozer moved ground Monday in Lexington’s East End neighborhood to signal the start of a childcare and housing project. $3 million dollars in federal funding will go to build a new Head Start Center at Fifth and Shropshire.
The Community Action Council will operate the Head Start Center with room for 52 students. Council Director Sharon Price said Head Start eligibility has changed.
“Families that receive SNAP benefits are automatically eligible to enroll in our Head Start program. There’s also new legislation which makes childcare free for everyone who works in a child development center, regardless of the family size or income,” said Price.
The Lexington Housing Authority is building ten single-family affordable homes and a five-unit apartment building. American Rescue Plan dollars are being used to build a road to serve the housing and Head Start Center.
Joyce Smith attended the event. She is a lifelong resident of that East End area. She said the facilities will make a difference.
“It will help to build up the neighborhood and give kids a daycare and people, jobs. Yeah, I think it will help. Think it will work out.”
The Lexington Housing Authority got city backing for $750,000 to build a road to support the Head Start facility and new housing. The road and center will be named for Dr. Zirl Palmer, a pharmacist who built the only African-American owned drug store in Lexington in the early 60’s. The Head Start Center is tentatively scheduled to open in 2024.
