VALENTINE, Neb. — With child care in short supply across Nebraska, leaders in Valentine are getting creative, turning to church basements and underused spaces to help meet a growing need.

According to Voices for Children, 11 Nebraska counties currently do not have a single licensed child care facility. In Valentine, local officials say the shortage has been felt for years, with dozens of families struggling to find care.

“We knew we had a daycare need,” said Jill Joseph-Austin, executive director of the Valentine Children and Families Coalition. “Our shortage for children was at about 60. We needed about 60 spots, but a facility in a grander fashion was too much for our community. It was not going to be sustainable.”

Rather than building something new, Joseph-Austin began looking for underutilized spaces already in town. That search led to an unconventional solution: churches.

The coalition first helped open a child care program inside the Presbyterian Church. Now, a second facility will open this month in the basement of Saint John’s Episcopal Church, where the coalition is leasing the space for just $1 per year.

“That’s their service to the community,” Joseph-Austin said. “That’s their ministry. They want to help support the community, and this is how they can give back.”

The coalition subleases the space to a licensed child care provider. Joseph-Austin said she was eager to partner with someone experienced, eventually finding former teacher Andrea Egger, owner of Heart City Childcare.

“I do have a curriculum that goes along with birth to three and three to five,” Egger said. “This age is so important to start learning those simple things — colors, shapes, numbers.”

Heart City Childcare will initially care for eight children, with plans to expand to 12. With additional renovations, the space could eventually serve up to 30 children.

Even with the expansion, Egger said demand remains high, especially for infant care.

“I think I had parents of three or four kids reach out to me who needed infant care,” Egger said. “Even with adding a daycare, we still can’t handle all the infants coming through, but it’s good to have for when they get older.”

The challenge extends far beyond Valentine. Statewide data from 2023 shows nearly 13,000 parents of children age five and under either quit a job, declined a job, or significantly changed their employment due to child care issues.

Joseph-Austin said addressing child care is critical to the long-term health of communities.

“Everything works together,” she said. “If we don’t have housing or child care, people aren’t going to want to come here for work. We have to think outside the box to provide those things for people who want to move to our community.”

For Valentine, that outside-the-box thinking is already making a difference — one church basement at a time.