MTSU prepares parenting students for school year with child care grants

MTSU photo of Maigan Wipfli, director, June Anderson Center; Adobe Stock photo of child playing with blocks)

MTSU students who need taking care of their children while attending classes can apply now for financial assistance.

About 40 grants of about $1,000 each are available for the fall 2022 semester by applying at https://tinyurl.com/mrmkpwzh through Friday, July 1, at 4 p.m.

The grants will be awarded each semester to those with the greatest financial need who’ve applied by the deadline. Funds will be distributed until the term’s grants are exhausted.

Maigan Wipfli, director of the June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students — Maigan Wipfli

“We are really excited about this first installment of the Child Care Fund,” said Maigan Wipfli, director of the June Anderson Center for Nontraditional Students. “It is our hope that students in need will be able to get a bit of extra support in order to have their children taken care of while attending classes.”

The child care grants replace the Child Care Lab at Womack Lane Apartments, which closed in December.

The lab served more than 20 children ages 3 to 5 from 1981 until the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to implement safety measures that reduced the maximum number of children served to 13.

A residence-hall expansion will be constructed on the site of the 55-year-old complex that housed the Child Care Lab, according to the university’s master campus plan.

The grant program can serve more children of low-income parents, and there’s no age limit on the minor children who can be included in the student grants.

Wipfli said the JAC keeps in regular contact with many off-campus child care providers in the area and maintains an updated list at www.mtsu.edu/jac/nontrad/Parenting_Resources.php with their information. Grant eligibility criteria also are included on that webpage.

The MTSU Child Development Center and the Ann Campbell Early Learning Center continue to offer child care opportunities on campus. Information about those centers is listed at https://tinyurl.com/mrmkpwzh.

Wipfli said the Anderson Center is accepting donations of school supplies to give to parenting students. Among the items needed are Ziploc bags, wide-ruled spiral notebooks, glue sticks, rulers, highlighters, pencil cases and colored pencils.

Donations can be dropped off at Room 330 in the Student Union or purchased from an Amazon wish list at https://tinyurl.com/bdh77pvd and shiiped or delivered.

For more information, contact Amanda Gjertson, parenting students coordinator, at 615-898-2289 or amanda.gjertson@mtsu.edu.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)