“If you want something done, hire a nun.”
That line won applause from a crowd celebrating the ribbon cutting of a new child care facility in Watertown. Our Little Village Learning Center is part of a legacy project by the Benedictine Sisters of the Mother of God Monastery.
Sister Barb Younger knows child care is a tough business. But when a local provider was on the brink of closing, she and the other sisters saw an opportunity to solve a problem.
“It’s totally a community effort," she said. "I led the charge, and sometimes I pushed the charge, but it was the community.”
State, city, county and local business funds came together to convert one of the monastery’s old buildings to a state-licensed child care facility—all within about 18 months.
Michael Klatt is the strategic advisor to the monastery. He knows staffing can be difficult in child care.
“But we also knew that there were a lot of families that were seeking reliable child care. And we knew that if we could create the right structure, the right program, the right values, that we believe that people would respond to that, and they have done so," he said.
The new facility is part of the Village of Harmony Hill campus. The area includes independent senior living and a memory care unit to address another local need for elder care for both the nuns and their neighbors.
Angel Oeltjenbruns is the director of finance for the monastery. She says the intergenerational programming adds excitement.
“The next thing the school-age [kids] are going to be talking about is the Dust Bowl. So that brought up conversation from some of the residents remembering they were four and five years old during the Dust Bowl," she explained. "So a couple students are going to go back and interview those residents.”
The past and future are intertwined at the Village of Harmony Hill. The Mother of God Monastery will end in the coming years as the last of the sisters pass on.
Sister Barb says they’re planning to leave something useful behind.
“We wanted to make sure that we intentionally developed our land in a way that would benefit Watertown well beyond our years. So that’s the story. Here it is.”
Our Little Village Learning Center is now enrolling kids ages four weeks to fourth grade.
