印第安纳州175万美元改造Marengo青少年俱乐部：新增31个托育名额、新游乐场剪彩启用
印第安纳州州长迈克·布劳恩（Mike Braun）办公室宣布，印第安纳州克劳福德县马伦戈镇（Marengo）的哈里森-克劳福德县青少年俱乐部（Boys & Girls Club of Harrison-Crawford Counties）设施10月29日为一座新游乐场剪彩，这是该设施175万美元升级投资的一个重要节点。该项目动用了100万美元的州「区域经济加速与发展倡议」（READI）2.0 资金，正在扩建并大幅改善这座位于马伦戈的俱乐部大楼，以扩大托育与学前学生的容量。
马伦戈是克劳福德县最大的社区，该县地处印第安纳州高地（Indiana Uplands）地区，属于托育资源匮乏地区。在室内翻修仍在进行的同时，该设施已经为两岁幼儿与四岁学前儿童新增了31个名额，使克劳福德县尚缺的托育名额减少了20%。175万美元总投资用于关键的大楼维修，包括更换暖通空调（HVAC）系统以及室内外改善；新剪彩的户外游乐场为孩子们提供了支持户外学习的安全空间。俱乐部还与 Uplands Smart Start 合作，通过儿童发展协会（CDA）队列项目培养员工，帮助早期教育从业人员取得新资格，并推动俱乐部迈向「质量之路」（Paths to Quality）三级项目。
布劳恩表示，他致力于让印第安纳州的每个角落都成为居民愿意生活、工作、游玩和定居的地方；通过对克劳福德县这家青少年俱乐部等 READI 资金的战略使用，州政府正在帮助社区为儿童与家庭作出重要投资。州商务厅长 Chuck Goodrich 表示，托育等可负担的便利设施是生活品质以及人才留存与吸引的关键，像这样由 READI 支持的项目对改善托育可及性、特别是农村地区的托育至关重要。
据州长办公室介绍，READI 计划是州政府一项12.5亿美元的投资。克劳福德县所在的印第安纳州高地地区由区域机会倡议组织（ROI）牵头、涵盖10个县，已获得6000万美元 READI 配套资金，用于提升该地区作为全国创新枢纽的能力、发展和吸引紧缺人才，并推进住房、基础设施与场所型资产建设。
Indiana's $1.75 Million Investment Expands Childcare in Marengo: 31 New Seats and a New Playground at Boys & Girls Club
The office of Indiana Governor Mike Braun announced that officials cut the ribbon on October 29 on a new playground at the Boys & Girls Club of Harrison-Crawford Counties facility in Marengo, Crawford County, Indiana, a major milestone in a $1.75 million investment expanding capacity for childcare and preschool students at the facility. The project leveraged $1 million in READI 2.0 funding under Indiana's Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative.
Marengo is home to the largest community in Crawford County, a pocket of the Indiana Uplands region that is a childcare desert. While the interior renovation is still underway, the facility has already added 31 seats for two-year-olds and four-year-old preschool students, reducing the number of childcare seats still needed in Crawford County by 20 percent. The total $1.75 million investment is being used for critical building repairs, including replacement of the HVAC system and interior and exterior improvements, and the new outdoor playground creates a safe space to support outdoor learning. In tandem, the Boys & Girls Club is working with Uplands Smart Start through the Childhood Development Association (CDA) cohort program, which supports early learning professionals in earning new credentials and will help the club move to a Paths to Quality Level 3 Program.
"I am committed to ensuring every corner of Indiana is a place where Hoosiers want to live, work, play and stay," Governor Braun said. "Through strategic use of READI funds, like this one in Crawford County, we are helping communities make important investments to improve quality of place for children and families." Indiana Secretary of Commerce Chuck Goodrich said access to affordable amenities like childcare is a key contributor to quality of place and to talent retention and attraction, and that READI-supported projects like this are essential to improving childcare access, particularly in rural areas.
Indiana's READI program is a $1.25 billion state investment in regional-led strategies. Crawford County is part of the 10-county Indiana Uplands region led by Regional Opportunities Initiative (ROI), which was awarded $60 million in READI matching funds to grow the region's capacity as a national hub for innovation, develop and attract in-demand talent, and advance housing, infrastructure and place-based assets.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：公园内的儿童游乐场（资料图）。CC BY-SA，Shotgunheist摄，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / A park playground (file photo). CC BY-SA, by Shotgunheist, via Wikimedia Commons.
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