Telamon Corporation, a provider of early childhood education in Tennessee for almost 20 years, broke ground for a new facility in Carter County on Thursday.
The excitement of the day was a long time coming for many involved in the project.
In 2014, Telamon conducted a needs assessment study for the county to determine what the level of need was for an early Head Start center. Telamon received a grant in 2015 from the Office of Head Start to provide services to 32 infants and toddlers at the Carter County Early Head Start site. The grant turned out to be for a bigger center than Telamon had originally expected so original plans for the center had to be reworked.
In the interim, Telamon began operating a program out of the building that once housed Little Lambs Day Care at East River Park Christian Church.
On Thursday, the dream of a new program center took one step closer to reality as ground was broken for construction to begin. The construction of the center will be completed by Kem Richardson, general contractor and owner of Richardson Builders.
“We are so excited to get this done,” said J Davis, state director of Telamon. “We’ve been waiting on this for a while.”
Telamon officials were joined by Carter County Mayor Leon Humphrey and John Abe Teague, the District Field Representative for U.S. Rep Phil Roe.
“I’m so excited about this,” Humphrey said. “It’s going to be a great addition to Carter County and this community.”
Teague passed along Roe’s regrets that he was not able to attend but thanked all of those involved in the project on behalf of the congressman.
As a medical doctor, and specifically as an OBGYN who delivered more than 5,000 babies, Teague said Roe has a great interest in healthcare and the care and education of children.
“What we appreciate is your vision of looking to take care of those who can’t take care of themselves,” Teague said.
Telamon is currently accepting applications for enrollment in this program, which is for low-income families with infants and toddlers ages six weeks to three years. The new Early Head Start program is open to all low-income families in Carter and Washington Counties. Free services are currently provided at Telamon’s temporary location at the East River Park Christian Church, located at 1207 Broad Street in Elizabethton. Telamon’s Early Head Start program consists of free childcare offered Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Children are engaged in individualized developmentally appropriate activities to promote a love of learning.
Silvia Fregoso, center director of Telamon’s Elizabethton site, said the agency is able to provide the service free through federal funding grants. In order to maintain their grants, Telamon must match 20 percent of the grant value, but Fregoso said the agency is allowed to count the value of ‘in kind’ donations and volunteer hours as well as actual monetary donations.
“We are always looking for volunteers,” Fregoso said. “Anyone who wants to read to the children or someone who plays an instrument and wants to play for the children can come in and volunteer.”
There are also other ways to volunteer or donate, especially now that construction is about to begin. Telamon will be accepting donations of construction supplies, playground equipment and a number of other items.
The Telamon program is not affiliated with the Head Start programs in either the Elizabethton City Schools or the Carter County School System.
For more information on the Telamon Early Head Start program, to enroll a child or to donate to the program, please contact Silvia Fregoso, Center Director at (423) 388-9082 or sfregoso@telamon.org.