BackKeene Day Care Center Awarded $500,000 to Modernize Its Wood Street Facility
Keene Day Care Center Awarded $500,000 to Modernize Its Wood Street Facility
August 11, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2026
Keene Day Care Center Awarded $500,000 to Modernize Its Wood Street Facility
Federal Community Development Block Grant will pay for heating and cooling, replacement windows, and a fire sprinkler system at the nonprofit center that cares for up to 70 children
KEENE, N.H. The Keene Day Care Center has been awarded $500,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to make long-needed improvements to its facility at 88 Wood Street, allowing the longstanding nonprofit to preserve and strengthen access to affordable, high-quality child care for families across the region.
The Center provides year-round care for up to 70 children in a building constructed in 1940. The grant will fund a facility improvement project designed to keep that building safe, comfortable, and affordable for the working families who depend on it. The award is effective through June 30, 2028, and is funded entirely with federal dollars.
A safer, more comfortable building
The CDBG funds will support essential upgrades to the Center’s facility, including a new heating and cooling system for a building that currently operates year-round without air conditioning, energy-efficient replacement windows, and the installation of a fire sprinkler system. Together, these improvements will create a safer, more comfortable, and more energy-efficient environment for the children and staff who spend their days there, while helping the Center sustain its existing child care capacity.
The CDBG award is one part of a broader effort by the Center, supported by additional CDFA funding, to modernize its facility and stabilize affordable child care in Cheshire County.
How the award came together
The grant was authorized through the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA), which administers the federally funded CDBG program in New Hampshire on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Because the program requires a municipal or county applicant, Cheshire County sponsored the application on the Center’s behalf and will subgrant the funds to support the improvement project at 88 Wood Street.
“The staff and board of the Keene Day Care Center identified what this building needed and built the case for it,” said Christopher Coates, Cheshire County Administrator. “The County’s role was to serve as the applicant so that work could reach the funding it deserved. The credit for this award goes to the Center.”
The Southwest Region Planning Commission (SWRPC) assisted the Center and the County in developing the grant application.
About the CDBG program
The Community Development Block Grant program provides federal resources, distributed through CDFA, to support housing, public facilities, economic development, and community initiatives that primarily benefit low- and moderate-income residents. Since 2003, CDFA has awarded more than $213 million in CDBG funds to communities throughout New Hampshire.