The Milford Childhood Learning Center has not raised tuition rates once since opening its doors in June 2024.
For a community with a 52-child gap and 90% infant deficit just three years ago, MCLC has held the line on affordability. Not by cutting corners, but because the community around it keeps stepping up.
The center is debt-free, at full capacity with a wait list, and currently serves more than 50 children with over 20 part-time and full-time staff. The center maintains 12 to 16 infant spots at any given time, with due date spot holds available for expecting families.
Tuition rates sit 5% below Lincoln averages. And the model that makes it work is deceptively simple: tuition covers staff payroll and community donations cover operating overhead.
“The structure is straightforward,” said Dave Welsch, MCLC Treasurer and Financial Sustainability Chair. “Tuition covers staff payroll. Community covers operating overhead. That’s the model, and it’s why we can pay teachers equitable wages without pricing families out. But it only works if the community stays engaged.”
A different
kind of childcare
MCLC was built in 2023 through a partnership with Southeast Community College, Bellwood Mennonite Church and many community leaders and donors. It opened in June 2024 and became fully debt-free by that fall, all through community effort. The center was founded to address a severe childcare shortage in Milford, where only two licensed infant spots existed before MCLC opened.
Today, the center offers year-round infant care ranging from 12 to 16 spots at any given time, a much needed expansion of infant care.
While most childcare centers can accept state subsidy, MCLC is one of the few in the area actively enrolling subsidy-receiving families on a nondeterminational basis. Because state subsidy typically covers only about 70–80% of tuition, most centers with tight margins need to factor the loss of tuition per spot before accepting.
The MCLC learned from other centers with this issue and established a scholarship fund to cover the difference, meaning enrollment decisions are based on birthdate, never on a family’s payment source. MCLC has processed approximately $15,000 to $20,000 annually in Title 20 state childcare subsidy assistance for working families.
That is taxpayer-funded assistance that Milford families are entitled to, but without a local provider equipped to enroll them, those dollars have no avenue back into the community.
The center’s nonprofit, community-backed model means MCLC doesn’t have to choose between paying staff fairly and keeping rates affordable. Staff retention has been strong, and families have had consistency in the caregivers their children see every day.
What families
are saying
Isabella Peterson, an MCLC parent, described what the center has meant for her family as a young couple with no family in the area who could provide childcare.
“MCLC has truly been an invaluable resource for the Milford community since opening its doors in 2024,” Peterson said. “The staff are consistently kind, attentive, and always keep us well informed. It’s evident that they genuinely care about the children’s well being and development, always going above and beyond what is expected.
“Affordable, reliable childcare in a town of this size is vital to the Milford community and a huge reason why my family is excited to continue to make Milford our home.”
Peterson also encouraged community members to consider the tax credit.
“I encourage everyone to take the extra step of deciding where your tax dollars are directed,” she said. “Investing in MCLC ensures it can continue to provide high-quality care at an affordable price for Milford families, benefiting not just families, but the entire community.”
The funding window
is closing
MCLC needs to raise $80,000 to $90,000 annually to cover operating costs that tuition alone cannot: insurance, utilities, fire safety, inspections, licensure, and continuing education for staff. The center’s primary outside funding tool has been Nebraska’s Child Care Tax Credit, which provides donors a 100% dollar-for-dollar credit against their Nebraska state income taxes.
But the $2.5 million annual state pool for the credit is first-come, first-served, and $1.7 million has already been claimed for 2026. Two years ago, donors could contribute near year-end and still receive the credit. Last year, the pool tightened in the fall. This year, it’s February and two-thirds of the pool is already spoken for.
“This is one of the smartest financial decisions a Nebraska taxpayer can make,” said Sid Burkey, MCLC Financial Sustainability Committee member. “You’re going to pay state income tax either way. The Child Care Tax Credit lets you redirect that exact same money into your own community. Into a center that’s keeping families here, keeping childcare affordable, and keeping teachers in a career they love. It’s not charity. It’s choosing where your tax dollars work.”
How the
tax credit works
The Nebraska Child Care Tax Credit is a nonrefundable credit, not a deduction, that offsets a donor’s state income tax liability dollar for dollar. Any unused credit carries forward for five years. Contributions can be made in cash, by check, or through ag commodities, livestock, and publicly traded securities.
Community members interested in contributing and claiming the credit are encouraged to contact MCLC Treasurer Dave Welsch at dwelsch1980@gmail.com or call/text him at (402) 826-9691 to begin the process before the remaining state pool is claimed.
Community infrastructure, not just childcare
MCLC was strategically built as a community center, unaffiliated with any sponsoring organization, so that it would belong to all of Milford. In collaboration with the Seward County Chamber and Development Partnership, MCLC helped close the county’s cited childcare gap, turning what was once designated a “childcare desert” into a community that can support its working families.
Community members dreamed it, local donors funded it, SCC students built it, and families filled it.
“Every dollar that comes in is accounted for and put to work,” Welsch said. “We’ve raised over $1 million since 2023, we’re debt-free, and we can show you exactly where the money goes. This center runs on transparency and trust, and the community has earned the right to see results. They’re getting them.”
