NEW HAVEN - Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today participated in the groundbreaking and naming ceremony for the Alvis Brooker Building. The facility will be the new headquarters building for Greater Dwight Development Corporation (GDDC) - a non-profit development organization focused on community development. The building will also house the Montessori-on-Edgewood Early Education and Care Center, which will serve 24 infants and toddlers, 36 preschoolers, and also provide classroom space for training community residents to serve as child care workers, and for community after school programs.

DeLauro secured nearly $1 million in federal funding for the project through the appropriations process to address unmet demand for affordable daycare, especially for infants and toddlers in the Dwight neighborhood.

“Ensuring that every child in our community grows up in a safe and nurturing environment is what this effort is about,” said DeLauro. “Children who get off to a good start in life-with access to health care, appropriate child development and pre-school activities, and good nutrition-are more likely to be ready for school, and become productive, contributing adults.”

“Montessori-on-Edgewood will be a model for early childhood education,” said DeLauro. “At a time when so little federal attention has been paid to the growing child care gap in this country, it is reassuring to know that those right here in our own community have come together to make this investment in its own future possible.”

The Bush Administration has not increased child care funding in the last three years even though over seven million children are left home alone on a regular basis while their parents are at work.