Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/meet-alici/5014829/
"Every year we get new marbles to play with." Alicia Lewis talks about the challenges of directing a program with so many components during our tour of the Child Development Center at Lou Williams Variety Club Children's Center through Children and Families of Iowa - Child Development Center for short. If ever a director was adeptat playing with those marbles and winning the game for children and families, that director is Alicia Lewis.
The Child Development Center is part of Children and Families of Iowa, a private, non-profit, nonsectarian human services agency serving Iowa families since 1888. The Center currently serves 300 families through services at the center and 20 home-based programs. In addition to child care, services of the Center include therapeutic programs; a partnership for wrap around care with Head Start; medical services through the agency nurse; and Shared Visions, a readiness and wrap around for four year olds at risk.
Agency director Gloria Gray believes in the importance of quality child care. "I bring the new board members and anyone else I can to the Child Development Center to open their eyes to the world of child care. People don't understand the complexity of operating child care, ...