Gallatin non-profits partner for affordable daycare program

Two Gallatin-based non-profits are partnering on a project to increase affordable childcare slots in the city while renovating a former local high school property. The Gallatin Shalom Zone and Gallatin Daycare are working to renovate a currently unused wing of the city’s former Union High School, where the Shalom Zone is located, to provide a daycare space. Officials with Gallatin’s Economic Development Angecy said the process began in late 2021 amid a rising need for affordable daycare services being requested by companies wanting to locate into the Gallatin area as well as working families. The Shalom Zone already runs programs including after-school programs, camps, Head Start, Toys for Tots, English Language Learners classes at the site, making it ideal for the daycare expansion. The project is being finances through a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant (CBDG), a $110,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), and $550,000 from the Gallatin Industrial Development Board on the project.