Henry County leaders brainstorm ideas to help community

Nan Polk, a retired teacher and current school board president of the New Castle Community School Corporation, told the assembled public servants that childcare for the very young is a significant need throughout the county. Polk said most Henry County daycares and preschools don’t start taking children until they are at least toddlers.

“We need to start with infant care, all the way up. It’s not available,” Polk said.

Until September, Polk served as board president of CRADLES Childcare. For many years, CRADLES was one of the few facilities in New Castle that kept newborns while their parents worked or went to school. CRADLES closed their doors in September in part because they could not collect on several thousand dollars worth of services from parents they had helped.

The Agape Learning Center at Foursquare Church has recently expanded its services to include newborn children. There are currently several dozen families on the months-long waiting list to get their children into Agape.

New Castle-Henry County Economic Development Corp. President and CEO Corey Murphy also attended Thursday’s meeting. Murphy said early childhood education is an investment in the economic future of Henry County.

“I see the early childhood as a competitive advantage, as well, as a way to set our community apart,” Murphy said.

Murphy said all Indiana communities struggle with high school graduation rates and college completion. He suggested that the five school districts in Henry County and community leaders could develop a program to pay for local high school students to attend Ivy Tech Community College.

Murphy noted that the county government and private donors have made large investments in the Henry County Ivy Tech campus. By facilitating college attendance and certifications, Henry County would become more attractive to outside business and potential homeowners.

New Castle City Council President Mark Koger said local companies should look at the needs of their workers and consider offering free childcare as part of the employee benefit package.

HOPE co-president Cathy Hamilton wants to make Henry County “an amazing place to raise your children, from birth until we head them off to college.”

“That would take boldness,” Hamilton said.

Jerry Cash, another member of the HOPE Initiative, spoke about the research going into establishing a local facility to help people who struggle with drug and alcohol abuse. A community committee has been working with The Healing Place in Louisville, Kentucky, to learn how they have attained a 75 percent success rate of keeping people off drugs for at least a year.

“One of the things I picked up on that I thought was kind of interesting was rather than being seen by the neighbor as maybe a problem or a blight or something they didn’t want there, they (The Healing Place) were welcomed and supported by the community they were in,” Cash said.

Cash suggested that New Castle and Henry County leaders talk to the elected officials in Indianapolis to seek ways to pay for a similar service in New Castle. He also mentioned that the committee is looking to add more members to its ranks as a way to include more voices in the conversation.

“This is critical. It’s about quality of life, not only for the addict but for the family. We think we’ve got a good foundation, but we need to expand the coalition,” Hamilton agreed.

Koger also brought up the continued need for New Castle and Henry County to address the local justice system. The Henry County Commissioners approved a contract in August for an outside firm to study the overall criminal justice system.

Safety at the Henry County Jail is a high priority for local officials. Brian Gosser died in March while he was an inmate in the jail, and in August, inmates allegedly started multiple fires.

Sheriff Ric McCorkle has ordered renovations to the facility, including new interior doors and repairs to the roof. McCorkle maintains that the jail is safe, but that he is working to make it safer for inmates and jail personnel.

Koger said the city has been in talks with the New Castle Correctional Facility, a private prison run by the GEO Group, about housing some or all of the county’s jail inmates.

“Maybe it can be a stop-gap measure while the assessment is being done, rather than keep people in that dangerous scenario (in the jail),” Hamilton said.

HOPE Initiative was formed in 2012 following a series of open community forums asking why people enjoy living in the community. HOPE members have since tried to determine what would make Henry County an even better place to live.