CAPE GIRARDEAU – United Way of Southeast Missouri (UWSEMO) announces its purchase of a downtown Cape Girardeau building located at 16 N. Spanish Street. The acquisition comes during the organization’s 70th year of serving Southeast Missouri. Although the purchase is final, UWSEMO will not occupy the space until April.
To commemorate their new location, UWSEMO will host an Open House on April 25 from 4-6 p.m. The event is free and open to all. There will be games, music, and a birthday cake to commemorate 70 Years of Giving. More information will be provided as the event nears.
“We are thrilled to move our operations back to downtown Cape after nearly 10 years,” said United Way of Southeast Missouri’s Executive Director Elizabeth Shelton. According to Shelton, UWSEMO plans to use the building for more than office space, including devoting space to a Community Childcare Resource Center. Shelton explains, “The Resource Center will house United for Childcare, a program we spent the last year developing to address the critical shortage of childcare providers in Southeast Missouri.”
The Community Childcare Resource Center will not provide childcare. Rather, through a strategic combination of classes and services, it will support parents, current childcare providers, and those interested in becoming providers. By bolstering existing childcare services and creating more childcare spaces for employees, the program also helps area employers. Shelton explains that more details will be forthcoming as more funding arrives and the Center is developed. Additional funding is being sought to launch the program with a tentative date set for early summer.
Those wishing to support United Way’s childcare initiative have several options to donate: 1. Mail checks made out to UWSEMO at 1417 N. Mount Auburn Rd. Suite D. Cape Girardeau, MO 63701 2. Donate safely online at unitedwayofsemo.org or 3. Call the United Way office at 573-334-9634 to give credit card information over the phone. More information about United for Childcare can be found at: https://unitedwayofsemo.org/childcare/.