Reduced cost care will open on Jan. 3
By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – Kathryn “Kathy” Townsend has spent her life volunteering in many aspects of her church and community at whatever times she saw an opportunity.
Brice Jones has spent his life supporting those causes and offering similar help in Slidell as a longtime, respected lawyer.
So, it seemed to be no surprise that the two teamed up with their own talents to turn a somewhat underutilized Family Life Center building on the Hartzell Mt. Zion United Methodist Church property into what will now be a helping hand for working parents, set to open on Jan. 3, 2022.
Townsend said she had noticed the huge Life Center building, with a full-length indoor basketball court, as something at Hartzell that had more potential than she saw it used for.
“I kept thinking we should do more with the building. We built it in 2008 and it has been used for many things, but I kept thinking we could do more with it since it was frequently not being used,” she said.
Her idea was to create a Before and After School Care center for parents of kids who attend Honey Island Elementary, Cypress Cove Elementary or Little Oak Middle School. The real goal, however, was to make it a reduced cost for kids aged 6 to 12, especially for those parents who were working and struggling to pay the high cost of day care.