The recovery from Chantal has been anything but child’s play for Saxapahaw Village Kids, a preschool for ages 2 to 5 that has traditionally operated at Saxapahaw United Methodist Church.
Renee Lynch, the director of this play-centered preschool, acknowledged that the tropical storm did quite a number on the daycare’s premises when it passed through the area two Sundays ago.
“The preschool classrooms themselves had about three feet of water in them,” She recalled in an interview earlier this week. “The building has been gutted…and our contractors are estimating about six months for repairs, but we’re optimistic that it won’t take as long.”
Lynch said that she and her colleagues were eager to resume operations as quickly as possible in recognition of the crucial role that childcare plays in the lives of many working people. She added that circumstances forced Saxapahaw Village Kids to take a weeklong hiatus before it found temporary lodgings on the grounds of Hawbridge Charter School, which is just around the bend and on higher ground than the church.
“I’ve been able to work with our state licensing to get a temporary license to use the Hawbridge School gym,” she added. “I’m actually chair of the Hawbridge School, so I had some pull…But I think the community also recognized the need and wanted to help out.”
Lynch noted that Saxapahaw Village Kids will have to vacate the charter school’s gym before the resumption of classes in August. She added, however, that thanks to the efforts of a diligent state licensing consultant, the preschool has a line on a second temporary location that ought to be ready in time to take over from Hawbridge.
Lynch said that an entirely different challenge has arisen with the preschool’s furnishings – which were largely past saving by the time that the floodwaters receded. The preschool’s director added that there may still be a sliver of hope for the wooden fixtures that were retrieved from the church buildings. A number of these items have been left out to dry in the open as the church’s leadership tries to ascertain if any of them are at all usable.
“They asked the muck out crew to pull out anything that is solid wood and they were talking about options to repair them,” Lynch went on to recall. “But a lot of things we’ve had to just toss.”
In the meantime, Lynch said that members of the public have stepped in to help the preschool replace those items that can’t be readily salvaged.
“We have collected monetary donations from our community, and so far, we’ve raised $4,000 from those efforts,” she said. “We’ve also worked with United Way, and they’re optimistic we can replace most of the classroom materials.”
