Iowa State worked collaboratively with other state and community agencies to build a supportive community social infrastructure for families. Throughout the 10 year period that Postville Child Care has been in existence there has been many rough and rocky times especially financially. Plans for sustainability after the federal grant was through user fees and community ownership. It has just been the last two years where true collaborative efforts and ownership has been experienced. In this 10 year period the community of Postville has drastically changed in that it has become a very diverse community with approximately 22 differently cultures and 9 different languages spoken.
Collaboration is essential in such as diverse community.
The original Youth At Risk grant provided the seed money for a more extensive and exciting project that is now taking place. The new location is on school grounds and is being connected to one of their buildings. This new center will provide services for child care, before and after school programming, tutoring, mentoring, head start, preschool, parent resource library, and there will also be a cultural center in this building to assist our new Iowan's with the transitioning into a mid-west community. Assisting them with ESL classes, housing and transportation and employment problems etc. Community Sustainability Exciting collaborative efforts among school district, City of Postville, Postville Industries, and religious communities.