The Mayor, A Mural, and a First Look
This Thursday, Oct. 8 at 4PM, Meet Me on Main takes you inside the $14 million downtown campus Shannon McGuire Bowman spent years willing into existence, just about five weeks before the first child walks in. The mayor will be there. You should be too!
Main Street Vero Beach's monthly social features Mayor John Cotugno, and the host is Childcare Resources, whose new home opens Nov. 12.
Bowman took over Childcare Resources in 2012, when it reached about 100 children. It now reaches some 4,000 a year. This campus is the boldest move she's made to date.
You know the building. 1339 20th Street, the now refurbished old U.S. Fish and Wildlife office, which sat empty for years until Bowman's team took it on in 2024 and rebuilt it from the inside out.
Look for the mural on your way in. The northwest entrance now wears a wall of bright florals by artist Morgan Summers, painted during Main Street's first Mural Fest last November.
Why here, why now? Because of who it's for. Childcare Resources serves ALICE (asset limited, income constrained, employed) families: parents who work, earn slightly too much for state or federal childcare help, and still struggle to afford decent care. Bowman estimates that at 44% of households in this county. She also says fewer than half of our children show up to kindergarten ready and her waitlist runs past 200 every year.
Photos of the new location
Her answer was to build bigger. Enrollment capacity jumps 64%, to more than 200 children. The wellness suite will offer speech, occupational and physical therapy to any child in the community, enrolled or not. The training center will give free coaching to teachers from all 55 of the county's licensed early-education providers, people averaging under $18 an hour for some of the most important work in town.
RSVP through Main Street Vero Beach here. Then shake the mayor's hand, find the mural, and tell Shannon Bowman and her team well done!
