‘r kids Poised For Expansion

An anchoring agency in the Dixwell neighborhood that for two decades has been helping to stabilize vulnerable little kids and their families is poised to double its size, and the number of families it can serve.

All it needs are another $2.8 million and ten to 14 parking spaces.

That was the hopeful message that ​‘r kids Family Center CEO and Executive Director Randi Rubin Rodriguez delivered to two dozen members of the Dixwell Community Management Team Thursday night at the group’s regular monthly meeting convened at the Dr. Reginald Mayo Early Learning School on Goffe Street.

‘r kids, which works with children either in foster care or otherwise experiencing traumatic circumstances, recently secured $1.7 million for the expansion through the state Department of Children and Families (DCF). It is poised next month to launch a capital campaign to raise the balance required to complete what will ultimately be a $4 million project, Rubin Rodriguez said.

The project, designed by New Haven architect Craig Newick, will consist of the construction of a cantilevered second floor above the current one-floor building at 45 Dixwell Ave., a play area in the back, and a multi-purpose storage facility on the roof.

The upcoming campaign is called ​“Raising the Roof.”

When complete, the expansion will permit the group’s after-school program to expand from its current ten kids to double the size, about 22, said Rubin Rodriguez.

The new second floor will enable ​‘r kids to operate an infant and toddler family trauma center— a child care center whose focus will be on kids who have experienced violence or other trauma, including kids at very young ages who have been removed from their homes.

This kind of child care center, Rubin Rodriguez said, does not currently exist in our area.

It will feature observation rooms and group rooms for therapy for biological as well as foster parents, and of course expansive areas where kids can play and learn both inside and outdoors. Also in the plans is a thousand-square-foot rooftop garden.

“We’re excited to be the welcoming family center at the start of the Dixwell corridor,” Rubin Rodriguez told the management team.

Currently the center’s social workers work with clients, as clients, not in a group care setting. The center is currently not licensed to have a child care facility of any kind, let alone one as planned for particular kids suffering trauma. The planned expansion provides for this.

The other challenge to surmount — in addition to raising a few million dollars — is, of course, parking. The expansion will result in the loss of eight parking spaces. So ​‘r kids needs to secure the lease of ten to 14 parking spots off site and to obtain a parking variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals.

The group is scheduled to appear before the BZA next month; so far they have been unable to find a local business or nonprofit willing to lease space. She had hoped the United House of Prayer, at 100 Dixwell, would be willing to lease the spaces, but they couldn’t reach a deal. And Yale University also will not lease spaces in their nearby lots, she reported.

Construction should take a year, according to Rodriguez. During the time the services will continue but at a location ​‘r kids hopes to rent in the neighborhood. Since 95 percent of the families it serves do not have cars, and ​‘r kids is on a fairly well served bus line, Rubin Rodriguez said she hopes the to-be-rented space will also be in the immediate area.

But that is a ways into the future.

The expansion plan was warmly received by the management team attendees. Rodriguez said there will be a formal preview of the plans at the ​‘r kids offices in November.

As she departed the meeting, Rubin Rodriguez said, ​“Anyone know where we can get some parking?”