Non Profit Board

After nearly 90 years in the community, one of Burlington’s oldest child care nonprofits is closing next week.The Sara Holbrook Community Center has provided child care in Burlington since 1937 but now, after the current summer session, the center is shutting its doors.”For several years now, we’ve been struggling with a financial picture that has been less than rosy and we’ve been really, as a board and the staff, we’ve been working hard to try to right the ship,” said Kristin Fontaine, chair of the board for the Sara Holbrook Community Center.Fontaine said the decision was made “with a heavy heart” by the board.”Our primary focus is on finding a soft landing for our kids and families that are going to be impacted because we know the challenges and compounding those challenges just felt so, so awful for us,” said Fontaine.Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak said the closure is a big loss for the community.”The added, pressure point, of course, is that the Sara Holbrook Center has been a really important piece of our child care and after school care puzzle here in Burlington and it’s really upsetting and sad to see that they got to a place where they could not sustain the youth services that they’ve been able to provide,” she said.In a statement sent to the Burlington School District community, superintendent Tom Flanagan said the following:”Sara Holbrook has been an amazing partner for BSD, and our city, for decades, and we are saddened to learn this is happening.”Fontaine said that the center is currently in the “crisis phase” of figuring out what comes next.One potential option that is currently being discussed is to use the building this fall for students at the Integrated Arts Academy in Burlington while IAA is under construction and to maintain Hunt Middle School’s afterschool programs.”We’re still working with the school district to see if that can be possible,” said Fontaine.She also said that the board plans to take another look at their finances after the closure in the coming months.