Dozens of people gathered on a glorious fall Thursday morning, Oct. 22, to join SAL Community Services in the ribbon-cutting for the 56-year-old organization’s new Rock Island campus, at 2101 11th St.
The new 32,500-square-foot, $15.7-million campus brings several essential services together in a more convenient location, expanding access to early care and education while creating new opportunities to support children, families, older adults, and individuals throughout the community.
The two-story center, across from Friendship Manor, will replace the 1980s-era SAL center at 1609 4th St., Rock Island. SAL needs to raise just $1.5 million to pay off the rest of their debt, CEO Marcy Mendenhall said.
In Rock Island, one in four children live in poverty and 98% of children at the current Rock Island campus come from low-income or at-risk families, according to the SAL website. “Our current facility needs to be replaced. The building lacks modern heating and cooling systems, lacks proper air ventilation, and experiences flooding during rainfalls,” it says.
The new campus includes a new Skip-a-Long Childhood Center with 12 state-of-the-art classrooms and the capacity to serve 194 children. Designed specifically for SAL’s evidence-based approach to early care and education, the facility gives children engaging spaces to learn, grow, and thrive.
An indoor gym offers room for active play throughout the year. The expanded center will also create jobs for highly trained teachers and other staff.
“This ribbon cutting celebrates what our community can accomplish when people come together around children and families,” Mendenhall said. “It was built with tremendous care, generosity, and belief in what is possible. By giving children a strong start, helping parents pursue their goals, and creating a welcoming place where people of all ages can learn and connect, this center will impact countless lives in our community.”
Through a partnership with neighboring Friendship Manor, the campus also introduces one of Illinois’ few intergenerational care models. A dedicated staff member will help guide shared activities such as reading, music, gardening, art, and play. The program is designed to foster meaningful relationships, give children positive older role models, and offer seniors greater connection, purpose, and engagement.
“We know that loneliness, helplessness, and boredom can have a profound effect on older adults,” said Ted Pappas, president and CEO of Friendship Manor. “Bringing our residents and SAL’s children together will create joy, purpose, and lasting relationships across generations. We are excited to see this partnership come to life and to watch children and seniors learn from one another.”
The new campus also provides additional space for SAL’s Welcoming Center, a one-stop human services center supporting immigrants, refugees, and people with limited English proficiency as they build stable, successful lives in the region. In the last year, the Welcoming Center served over 900 individuals through case management, crisis intervention, educational workshops, food pantry, community outreach, and connections to resources addressing needs such as translation, employment, housing, food, and advocacy.
The expanded Welcoming Center includes space for a new Cultural Food Pantry. The pantry provides culturally responsive foods to families facing food insecurity, including households affected by reductions in public assistance benefits.
The project was made possible through broad community support, including collaboration with nonprofit and corporate partners, donors, foundations, and other local supporters. The building will officially open for children on Oct. 29.
A model for Illinois
Illinois Department of Early Childhood secretary Teresa Ramos on Thursday praised Mendenhall and SAL for their outstanding leadership in supporting early childhood needs.
“I can think of no better advocate than Marcy Mendenhall,” she said. “Marcy is a state treasure, someone who has helped steward incredible policies at the state level.”
“I can’t think of any better model for us to learn of,” Ramos added. “It’s really neat what you’re doing here. I cannot wait to continue to learn and take your ideas and figure out how to scale them across the state.”
The center capacity is increasing from Rock Island’s nine classrooms to 12, with total children served jumping from 164 to 194, said Tanisha Harris, SAL vice president of early care and education. SAL has also added about 20 more employees, she said.
“Because for this Early Head Start classroom, that's three alone just for one classroom. And then we'll have additional admin staff,” Harris said. “We added an intergenerational coordinator for the partnership with Friendship Manor. That's a liaison with their activity coordinator to kind of work together to plan the activities.”
The playground area is much larger in the new site, with separate playgrounds for pre-school and school-age kids, she noted. The second floor also has an indoor play area for basketball, ping-pong tables, and other activities.
“Today we're opening doors to opportunities, connections, and a hope for generations to come,” Mendenhall said Thursday before the ribbon-cutting. “This is the moment that's been in progress for at least a decade in the making. Our longtime Rock Island Center has outlived its useful life, and we envisioned a modern, welcoming place for children to flourish, families could be supported, and educators could do their best work.”
Support includes $4M in federal dollars
“Our $15.7-million campus became possible because the community said, yes, your children are worth investing in,” she said, thanking major funders for the project, including $4 million in federal grants arranged by former Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, new-market tax credit financing, and an anonymous $1-million donor.
“100% of our families will either go to work or school, and they trust us with their children,” Mendenhall said. “We are supporting the generations of learners, doers, and leaders through our partnership with Friendship Manor. We'll be the first intergenerational learning center in the Quad Cities where our children and adults can share stories, activities, laughter, and life. We also have a new relationship with Augustana College. who will help us with the research so we can actually prove what we say we're doing in great data stories.”
The new center will expand the SAL Welcoming Center, where immigrants, refugees, and non-English speakers receive compassionate and supportive services, “which is a wonderful expression of the community where everyone is seen, supported, and truly welcome,” she said.
“This is just a building. Our staff is the soul. We are especially proud to celebrate the extraordinary commitment of our Rock Island educators who are making their own growth.”
“May this campus ring with laughter, sparkle with curiosity, and overflow with the possibility of joy,” Mendenhall said. “And may every day who enters feel valued and surrounded by the community in their future. Today proves that Rock Island— when Rock Island works together and dreams together and gives generously, we could do more than construct a building. We build brighter futures with generations to come.”
A seed sprouting in west end
U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Moline) praised SAL’s commitment to the community, and to help improve the west end of Rock Island.
“When I say that this started as a seed, we are going to see so many other opportunities grow because Skip-A-Long is here, because there is a unique partnership with Friendship Manor,” he said. “Childcare allows a parent to take the job, to keep the job, to show up for a shift, and make great things happen in the Illinois Quad Cities. We can create new high-quality jobs, but if parents can't access affordable childcare, we all will miss out on incredible opportunities.
“I've seen Skip-A-Long’s work up close, and they fit the high-quality bill without a doubt,” Sorensen said. “They're champions for Head Start, which is necessary so every child, regardless of where they grow up, regardless of what their background, regardless of the status of their parents, they're welcome here in this community. We take care of our neighbors in this community, and we believe that children should grow and thrive and be able to make their dreams come true.
“So my thanks to Congresswoman Cheri Bustos for her work in the Congress, for helping put the bar for me high enough just barely within reach, and remembering how important it is to keep fighting for the people of the Quad Cities,” he added. “It's the honor of my life to do this work and support the children who will grow up to be the future leaders of this great place that we call home.”
A model for intergenerational care
Pappas credited Mendenhall with the Friendship Manor partnership, which will combine visits from seniors to SAL and children to Friendship Manor.
It supports a concept of care called the “Eden Alternative,” which helps the elderly deal with three common plagues -- loneliness, helplessness, and boredom. They address those by interactions with children, plants and animals, Pappas said.
“And all of a sudden, something that I had learned years before resurfaced, and I thought, you know, maybe Marcy’s not crazy,” he said Thursday. “Maybe there is something to this vision. Maybe there is something to what she's saying. And all of a sudden, Friendship Manor started to say, wow, we believe.”
“Five years from now, we will be a model,” Pappas said of intergenerational care and programming. “People will come from all over this country. You listen to me. And they will look at what we're doing here with intergenerational programming, and they're going to say, we want our child centers and our senior communities to do exactly this because it's changing lives.”
Estes goes beyond construction
Mallory Merritt, chief financial officer for Estes Construction, the general contractor, also spoke about the facility’s impact for years to come.
“As a company, we're so proud of a 30-year relationship with SAL that goes so far beyond construction. Together over the years, we've supported and invested in youth and families across the region," she said.
"We've done fundraisers, sponsorships, and now we can say we've built this remarkable building behind us together. For us as a Quad Cities-based company and for a huge believer in the power of our Quad Cities, we believe in projects and we support and really enjoy projects that have impact far beyond the end of the construction process. This is one of those projects for us.”
Estes is proud to deliver the new center two months early and under budget, she said. The project was also under an IMPACT agreement, where Estes “brought alongside of us the most skilled local labor to drive quality schedule and safety in the field, and they delivered on just that,” Merritt said.
“This building reflects an investment in children, working families, older adults, and neighbors building new lives in our community,” Mendenhall said. “We are deeply grateful to everyone who helped create a place that will serve Rock Island families for generations.”
Lucie VanHecke, executive director of Illowa Construction & Labor Management Council presented a plaque to SAL in appreciation of their commitment to using union labor in construction.
“When organizations choose union construction, they’re investing in skilled workers, supporting families, creating jobs and ensuring quality, safety and craftsmanship,” she said. “It’s a great example of how we can work together to build a stronger community.”
Founded in 1970, SAL has grown from an organization focused on providing quality child care to low-income working families to one that addresses a wide range of needs, from early care and education to crisis assistance and stabilization services.
Today, SAL has a bi-state, 17-county regional footprint extending from the Quad Cities to central Illinois, and operates others centers in Moline, Milan and Davenport.
You can donate to the Rock Island campaign HERE.
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