Dater Foundation supports Childcare Program with grant

Published on Jul 31, 2023

Gateway Community & Technical College received a $20,000 grant from the Charles H. Dater Foundation in support of the college’s Childcare Assistance Program.

This gift marks the fifth straight year that the Dater Foundation has chosen to support Gateway’s Childcare Assistance Program, bringing their total contribution amount up to $100,000 since their first gift back in 2018. 

The Dater family has kept a philanthropic commitment to the community as a core value since the mid-1800’s. The Dater Foundation routinely makes grants to non-profit organizations in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky areas to carry out projects that benefit young people in areas of art, culture, education, healthcare, social services, and other community needs. 

Gateway currently partners with Learning Grove, The Goddard School of Florence, and KinderCare Learning Centers, to use their facilities to help provide childcare assistance services to student parents. 

Gateway nursing student, Brianna Ritzi, was one of many students who utilized the programs services this year. She said, “I’m more than thankful for the childcare assistance program. It’s an amazing benefit that Gateway offers its student parents, and it helped me out so much when I needed it. During the spring semester, my babysitter had some unexpected health issues. At that time, there just wasn’t really a way that I would’ve been able to afford the full price of daycare for my son, stay in school, and also work part-time. Without the program I would’ve needed to drop out of nursing school and start working full-time just to afford the cost of daycare on my own. It’s a blessing to many Gateway students, myself included!”

Life’s unexpected expenses like higher-than-anticipated medical bills, fluctuating daycare costs, food insecurities, etc. frequently cause students to miss out on significant coursework and valuable classroom time. Childcare assistance programs like Gateway’s ensure student perseverance, retention, and timely graduation.

“The childcare partnership that we’ve developed with Learning Grove and KinderCare has been fantastic. Our student parents rely on childcare in order to remain in school and in the workforce. Being able to take the burden of finding and paying for quality childcare off of our students is outstanding, and we could not do without the help of partners and donors like the Dater Foundation” said Ashley Rouse, Gateway’s Director of Student Success & Engagement. “I’m lucky enough to be the liaison between our students and the childcare centers, so I get a firsthand look at how impactful it really is for our students, without the assistance, many of them would not be able to graduate.” 

Anyone interested in contributing to Gateway’s Childcare Assistance Program, or establishing a scholarship, may contact the Development Department at (859)442-1177 or by emailing adrijana.kowatsch@kctcs.edu. All support is tax deductible and 100% of contributions are used for the purpose for which they are given.