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Southwestern Minnesota Opportunity Council is interested in purchasing a portion of this land near the Pipestone Public Services building along North Hiawatha Avenue on which to build a new Head Start building. Head Start has been help in Peace United Methodist Church in Pipestone for decades, but the space no longer meets the programs needs. K. Kuphal
The Southwestern Minnesota Opportunity Council (SMOC) is looking for a new home for Head Start in Pipestone.
SMOC has been providing Head Start services since the 1960s and does so in Pipestone, Murray, Rock and Nobles counties. In Pipestone, it has historically provided those services at Peace United Methodist Church.
During the Sept. 14 Pipestone County Commissioner meeting, SMOC Head Start Director Lori Gunnink and SMOC Executive Director Neal Steffl asked the commissioners if SMOC could purchase or use a roughly 22,500 square-foot piece of county-owned land in Pipestone to build a new 4,000 square-foot building for Head Start.
Steffl said SMOC has looked for suitable buildings in Pipestone that it could purchase and renovate, but there was nothing available that would meet their needs.
Commissioner Dan Wildermuth, who is a member of SMOC’s board of directors, suggested county-owned land near the Pipestone County Public Services building, city-owned land east of Falls Landing, or the former Central School property as potential locations. Commissioner Dallas Roskamp asked if the former Brown or Hill elementary school properties, which are owned by Pipestone Area Schools, could work. After further discussion, the consensus was to look further into the county-owned land near the Public Services building.
Pipestone County Commissioners tasked the county’s building committee, which includes Wildermuth, Commissioner Les Nath, County Administrator Steve Ewing and Building and Ground Supervisor Wayne Drew, with figuring out a site that would work at that location. The committee will then bring back a recommendation to the full county board at its Sept. 28 meeting.
Gunnink said the space SMOC has used at Peace United Methodist Church “has been amazing” and the church has worked with them “very, very well,” but the program is limited there.
“What was licensable 30 years ago isn’t necessarily now,” Gunnink said.
Wildermuth said the current space is no longer adequate, does not meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, and does not have a kitchen with stainless steel appliances as required. He said SMOC has been looking for a new facility in Pipestone for years.
Gunnink said there is potentially federal funding available to build a new facility. She said there are many steps that must be taken to obtain that funding, the first of which include identifying land, having an agreement with the property owner that SMOC could purchase the land, and having environmental studies done. Gunnink said she must submit preliminary information to a regional Head Start office for review.
“They’ll give me either permission to write for the grant or they’ll deny me permission to write for the grant, so really this is just a baby step in the process that’s going to be a long process, but I do need to start it if possible,” Gunnink said.
Gunnink said SMOC received a $1.75 million grant for a new Head Start building in Worthington in 2016 and it took until 2018 before they could start building and until 2019 to open. Steffl said that building is 14,000 square feet and cost $3.5 million. For the 4,000 square-foot building SMOC is hoping to have built in Pipestone, Gunnink plans to seek a $1 million grant.
Steffl said SMOC is hoping that the $1 million would pay for the entire building, but that it also has additional funding it could contribute and there might be state bonding funds that could be utilized as well.
Gunnink said Head Start currently has one classroom with 20 children in Pipestone and provides home-based services to eight to 10 children, and that there is a waiting list. She said added funding and a new building could help SMOC start an early Head Start Center for children from birth to age 3 as well.
Head Start is a child development program for 3 and 4-year-olds, including children with special needs, and also provides services to families, according to SMOC’s website at www.smoc.us/headstart. Gunnink said Head Start’s mission is to serve children with the highest needs who are most at risk of not succeeding and are from low-income families.
“It’s a comprehensive program, meaning if they don’t have a dental home we give them dental care, we give them physicals, immunizations, we’re required to work with a mental health consultant, we work with the families to help stabilize the families because in order for a child to be successful in school there needs to be stability at home,” she said. “So if there are mental health issues there or a need for a job or schooling or any of those challenges, we work with the whole entire family to support them on this journey to self sufficiency.”
Steffl said Head Start is about 80 percent federally funded and 20 percent state funded.
