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LISBON – A local day care facility scheduled to close Aug. 26 is in the process of being purchased by a faith-based non-profit from Youngstown that intends to reopen the facility as soon as possible.
Joseph McGeorge, executive director of Warriors Inc., said he has made a down payment to acquire Cherished Children on West Lincoln Way and expects to be able to close on the purchase the week of Sept. 14, although he hopes the sale will be concluded sooner.
“I know the community was concerned about it closing, so we’ll be reopening as the Eagles Christian Pre-School & Child Care Center,” he said.
Warriors Inc. is a Christian-oriented organization that operates day care/preschool facilities in Youngstown (since 2000) and Warren (2011) and is preparing to open another in Austintown. McGeorge said they had been looking to expand into Columbiana County when one of his staff members showed him a recent newspaper story about parents concerned over Cherished Children’s impending closure. He toured the facility on Tuesday and made a purchase offer on Wednesday, and it was accepted.
The purchase includes most of the contents, except for a single computer, which is why McGeorge said they will be ready to resume operations almost immediately once the sale is completed, which he believes should come as good news for parents who had children at Cherished Children.
“Hopefully, there won’t be any delay in child care,” he said.
News of Cherished Children’s closing came up at a recent Lisbon school board meeting. Fifteen to 20 Lisbon elementary school students are transported by bus every day after school to the facility, where they remain until their parents arrive home from work. One of the mothers asked the school board to consider getting into the day care business to fill the void created by Cherished Children’s closing.
McGeorge said about 14 Cherished Children employees are interested in staying on, and he expects to bring down some staff from Youngstown “to help get things up and running.” Warriors is putting together an informational flyer and expects to begin contacting parents next week.
Since Warriors is a faith-based organization, he said some religious instruction designed to build character will be part of the programming. “Our mission at Warriors Inc. is … to have an impact on the community” by making an impact on the youth, he said.
McGeorge, 55, is a Youngstown native and retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after serving 20 years and attaining the rank of master sergeant.
He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from National University in San Diego.