McClure Multigenerational Center Interview:
ANGELA IRVINE

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED ON THIS PROJECT?

I have been the director of the Burlington’s Child Space for 11 years, and when our board of directors was in our strategic planning process we started looking at more space and the need for more space and expanding our services. We were looking for a place to move to – so it started from strategic planning.

WERE THERE INITIAL DIFFICULTIES SAY FROM THE PARENTS TO ACTUALLY MOVE TOGETHER WITH THE SENIOR CENTER?

We had very little opposition. People thought it was a good idea. We did talk about the fact that the kids are always supervised by our staff and we wouldn’t just leave the children alone with a group of senior citizens. I think the parents were very comfortable with the program and the staff people that we have and all of the checks and balances that we keep in place. The term that we heard from parents was they loved our program so they would go to wherever our program was located. Most of the feedback was very positive. Our kids already did activities with the senior center prior to moving the block down the street to their center. The kids were used to the seniors.

WHAT ABOUT LOCATING IN THE BUILDING – GETTING THE CITY INVOLVED – ANY PROBLEMS?

The senior center originally owned their site on Main Street so our original plan was to redevelop that site. The issue with that was the cost. The Children’s Center really didn’t have any experience with redeveloping property or expanding – doing any type of building projects. The Burlington Community Land Trust became involved and they had the rights to this site already. What happened when we decided to move to this site was there was a lot of enthusiasm because it was cleaning up a brownfield. We qualified for a lot of federal funding at this site. It was a huge redevelopment effort in this neighborhood, so convincing people that this was a good idea was very easy. We would not have that same level of support if we stayed at the senior center site on Main Street. This site was one of the most polluted sites in the city so it qualified for brownfield funding. There was a federal appropriation in the state capital budget for this project. There was enterprise community funding that helped us purchase this site. Because the senior center owned their building they were able to sell that and put the funding from the sale into this project. It is an interesting story about the senior center because the center actually bought their building from the city for $1.00. It was the city’s contribution to senior services. It was an old falling down building and they really didn’t have any use for it. So, the senior center bought it for $1.00 with the understanding that the space would remain a senior center in perpetuity. When the senior center decided to sell, the city agreed to just turn over any of the profits from the sale. They could have recouped the money. So this project was blessed with a lot of support right from the start.

What happened was the Children’s Space was looking for a new space – and it is very hard to find enough space to meet program needs and meet all the licensing and requirements. We needed to move out of Memorial Auditorium. At the same time the senior center needed to do something about their Main Street site. We were also at that time all in the process of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding review for our program. When we were being reviewed, I discussed with the CEDO Office the need to do something about our space. At the same time the senior center was making the same comment to the CEDO staff and they said why don’t you both talk – there might be something we can do. We actually had three meetings to discuss our building needs and all of a sudden I said you know this is a great idea. We both needed space and it immediately became not about how much square footage we needed, it was about bringing people together. It took us a couple of meetings to figure this out.

SO THE CEDO OFFICE ACTUALLY INITIATED THE IDEA?

They did in a way. They said there were other people looking for space and we should get together and talk.

WHAT ARE YOUR RECENT DIFFICULTIES IF YOU HAVE ANY?

There are no program problems in terms of the kids and the seniors. There is not any lack of things for them to do. The challenge for the senior center and the children’s space is our operating costs. Typically most non-profit organizations can find money for operating but have a difficult time finding resources to renovate or build. There was so much enthusiasm for the project in terms of volunteers and people wanting to give to the project that we had difficulty keeping people involved. We were almost a victim of our success. Everything went so well and so smoothly that people got used to not having to work really hard. Now we are sliding down the other side of the hill. I think it was a very specific project.

HOW DO YOU ADDRESS ISSUES NOW?

We are trying to do some recruitment for volunteers. We are doing some board development. We are also trying to get parents involved. We are doing a lot of information sharing. We didn’t raise our tuition rates. Parents didn’t get as much information about how much it costs for childcare. Why it is important that they be involved? We are trying to put our time and energy into educating our families about the things that we do here. The senior center is doing the same thing – they are out doing a lot of recruitment – to get more participants. We started up a separate nonprofit called the American Association of Multigenerational Seniors. This helps us to get grant funds.