One of North Carolina's favorite sons and longtime advocate of children and education will be on hand for the official opening of a breakthrough child care resource facility in the Triangle.

Governor Jim Hunt will be one of the dignitaries participating in this Wednesday's ribbon cutting for the Jim and Carolyn Hunt Child Care Resource Center in Durham. This model of collaboration, efficiency and unified advocacy for child care in North Carolina will house three important agencies: Child Care Service Association's (CCSA) Resource and Referral division; Durham's Partnership for Children (Smart Start and More at Four); and Durham's Alliance for Child Care Access (providing child care scholarships to low-income working families).
 
"With over 57,000 children in the Triangle living in homes where all parents work, it is imperative that families have access to high-quality child care. We are at a critical juncture where our community must take the next step to ensure that child care is given the same legitimacy and infrastructure as the other services we have made social priorities, including access to health care and public education. The Jim and Carolyn Hunt Child Care Resource Center is that step," Sue Russell, president of Child Care Service Association, said.
 
Among other services, the Center will provide a home for CCSA's expanded nutrition program, providing over 1,000,000 meals a year for children in child care facilities in all three Triangle counties. Families will be able to visit the Center to receive free referrals to high-quality child care facilities as well as information about child care scholarships, and child care providers can utilize CCSA's Early Education Library and take home tools to improve the quality of care they are providing. Also located in the facility, CCSA's Good Beginnings Infant-Toddler Classroom will serve as a practicum site for prospective and current teachers working on their early childhood degrees at local colleges and universities.