Garden of Dreams Preschool and Childcare Center takes root in a new location in Battle Creek

Editor’s note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave’s On the Ground Battle Creek series.

BATTLE CREEK, MI — Garden of Dreams Preschool and Childcare Center took root in 2005 at First Congregational Church of Battle Creek. In late 2025, the process of transplanting those roots to a building at 75 Irving Park Drive began, resulting in an October opening for the preschool and childcare center.

During a July 30 ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newest iteration of the childcare center and preschool, Robin Beasley, Director of Garden of Dreams, says, the mission has always been “rooted in care, community and possibility. This new space allows us to welcome more children and families into an environment where they feel supported, encouraged and ready to thrive. We are grateful to every partner who helped make this next chapter possible.”

Those partners include Bronson Healthcare, Bronson Battle Creek Hospital Community Partners Board (BBCH), the City of Battle Creek, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and others who came together to bring new life to the former childcare center near Bronson Battle Creek Hospital, according to a press release from Bronson Healthcare.

The new childcare center is in proximity to the Bronson Battle Creek campus. Officials were looking at opportunities to offer safe, affordable, quality childcare as part of their recruitment and retention efforts.

Internal assessments at Bronson Battle Creek Hospital showed that many staff and providers are either in the family planning stage or are parenting young children, said a press release from Bronson Healthcare announcing the Garden of Dreams initiative.

“Access to reliable childcare is more than a family issue. It is a workforce, economic and community health issue,” says Cheryl Johnson, SPHR, SVP, Chief People Officer at Bronson Healthcare. “When parents have dependable care for their children, they can come to work with greater peace of mind, employers can better attract and retain talent, and communities are better positioned to grow. We are proud to work alongside our partners to expand childcare access and help build a stronger foundation for children, families and the Battle Creek economy.”

Before Garden of Dreams, Zull’s Kids Campus occupied the 74 Irving Park building, which became vacant in 2023 after Roberta Zull, owner of Kids Campus, passed away. The building began its life in 1974 as the city-owned Clark M. Valentine Recreation Building.

Zull’s death and lack of a succession plan were “jarring to the community, parents, and students,” says Kathy Szenda Wilson, Co-Executive Director of Pulse. “Parents found new places to go for childcare, which showed the strength of a network built locally. The city had to assess what they were going to do with that building and acknowledged that they weren’t great landlords and knew they weren’t childcare experts.”

The public-private coalition spearheaded by Bronson Healthcare announced in early October that the Valentine building would house Garden of Dreams.

The estimated $1 million cost to rehab the 7,200-square-foot building was covered through a $500,000 grant from WKKF and a $300,000 investment from Bronson Healthcare and an additional $300,000 from Bronson Battle Creek Hospital Community Partners.

Previously, Beasley said, “The entire building has got to be renovated. That center is a total gut job,” Beasley says. “It’s a big task, and we’re not going over budget.”

The City of Battle Creek will continue in its role as the building’s landlord and will be responsible for core maintenance of the structure, says Marcie Gillette, Assistant City Manager.

“We certainly had the foundation for the building to be utilized in this way,” she says. “We relied on local experts to understand how we make selections to create the best partnership opportunities that we can.”

Oftentimes, Gillette says the biggest question when municipalities are partners in this work is why city government is involved in any way with childcare.

“It’s a spoke in our economic development wheel. Childcare is infrastructure that’s important to the overall health of our community,” Gillette says. “When people think of infrastructure, they think of areas like fire, water and sewer, but it really is broader than that. We have a responsibility to leverage overall community health and childcare is part of that.”

In addition to Garden of Dreams, the city has been working with New Level Sports Ministries during the relocation of the former Sugar and Spice Child Care Center to New Level’s campus.

When working on new projects and initiatives, Gillette says the city takes into consideration how these impact childcare needs in the community. City officials also are looking at internal policies and procedures and how this impacts a particular piece of economic development.

With the previous zoning code, childcare centers required special use permits, which cost $600 per permit, Gillette says. These requests went first to the Planning Commission and then to the City Commission.

“At each one of these steps of the process, they were always supported because there is a clear and necessary need for our community. We asked ourselves, ‘Why put someone through the process of special needs permits?” Gillette says. “How do we set the parameters in a way that makes it easier for childcare providers? We still have processes required by the state but have we have eliminated the other barriers.”

By bringing partners together to renovate the space and expand access to early learning, Megan Russell Johnson, Program Officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, says that Battle Creek is demonstrating how collaboration can remove barriers, create opportunity and build a stronger future for everyone.

“Every child deserves access to a safe, high-quality early learning environment where they can build the foundation for lifelong success, and every family deserves the opportunity to pursue work knowing their children are cared for,” Johnson said in a press release. “The Kellogg Foundation invested in this project because expanding high-quality childcare strengthens children, supports working families and creates the conditions for communities to thrive.”

Depending on how Michigan’s Child Care Licensing Bureau decides to calculate the square footage if Garden of Dreams maxed out in each room, the maximum they could have in attendance on one day is going to be between 82 to 86 infants and children ranging in age from six weeks to four years old, says a Bronson spokesperson.

In 2025, there were about 1.9 children in Calhoun County for every one childcare slot, said Maria Ortiz Borden, Co-Executive Director of Pulse.

A 2025 study conducted by researchers with Michigan State University says, “A lack of childcare access in Michigan has been found to dramatically inhibit labor participation, especially for women, single parents and young families.”

“There are dramatic economic implications, as childcare-related disruptions cost the state almost $3 billion annually with employers having to front most of the economic losses,” the study says. “As a result, there are important policy considerations to invest in more childcare infrastructure, childcare planning, and employer solutions and incentives.”

“What you could see at the local level if we’re not paying attention is a lack of childcare creating barriers to your community ‘s growth,” Gillette says. “We need to have resources to meet the needs of families to be a community of choice.”

Families interested in learning more about enrollment, eligibility, or future openings should contact Garden of Dreams Community Preschool and Childcare directly at (269) 788-0081 or robin@gardenofdreamspreschool.org.