New child care center proposed for Canton Township
CANTON TWP. – John McIntyre and his wife Olisia McIntyre appear to be a couple who put plans in action fast.
After recently starting a Christian ministry, John McIntyre located the Advancing the Kingdom Ministries in a building at 2850 Waynesburg Drive SE earlier this year. The next project is to create a child care center in the building. This would be overseen by Olisia McIntyre.
The couple have to secure a conditional use permit from the township Board of Zoning Appeals.
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"We are waiting for the permit (application) to go through," Olisia McIntyre said. "We don't have to build anything on. We are looking to put in a gated area for the children to play. We are going to hire staff. At this time, we don't have staff. We have a commercial kitchen."
Advancing the Kingdom Ministries obtained ownership of the property in mid-November from the previous land owner, Moreland Christian Church.
"We started there in June," said John McIntyre, the church pastor. "We started our ministry in March. We were actually in a hotel."
Advancing the Kingdom Ministries is not affiliated with any established Christian denomination.
The age range for the planned child care center will be infant to 12.
"The limit we want to go is up to 50 (enrollees)," Olisia McIntyre said. "We want to help the community by providing child care. We are trying to help the community by providing a safe and healthy environment for their children to come here while they are at work. We are not forcing our religion on them."
Olisia McIntyre's professional background includes being a program coordinator for the Stark County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
To operate a child day care, the couple will need to obtain a license from the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services.
"I am in the process right now," Olisia McIntyre said.
What the couple have in mind differs slightly from the existing Head Start programs, which are operated in Stark County by the Stark County Community Action Agency. Head Start's mission is to provide early learning and child care for low and moderate income families.
But the child day care operation the McIntyre couple have planned still will have to satisfy stringent standards, according to Rodney Reasonover, chief operating officer for Stark County Community Action Agency.
"You have to have all your ducks in a row," Reasonover said. "They are going to be looking to see if you have the appropriate number of staff and equipment. Staff has to have background checks on them."
The couple had applied to have the zoning changed on the 2.91-acre site from rural residential to neighborhood business. But the zone change request was withdrawn as the couple now plan to go before the township Board of Zoning Appeals for a conditional use permit.
"It is something, in my opinion, that the board would not have an issue with approving," township Trustee Mark Shaffer said. "With the labor market tightening up and more people are working, you need day care centers. Parents are working."
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Advancing Kingdom Ministries plans to open day care center
