A nonprofit childcare center in Blacksburg is working to reopen after a fire extensively damaged the facility Easter morning and a man was charged with arson.
Shortly after 4 a.m. on April 5, police arrived at Valley Interfaith Child Care Center to assist the town’s fire department. The center is located at the Good Shepherd Church of the Brethren on Heather Drive.
An investigation determined the cause as arson, according to police. Two classrooms had fire damage, one with a significant amount. A third classroom had extensive smoke damage.
Later that same day, a suspect was arrested. James Matthew Dupont, 58, of Cornelius, North Carolina, is charged with arson, according to police. The incident remains under investigation and no other details were released.
“It is shocking to us since we do not know who he is or and what the motivation was,” said Judy Shelor, director of the center.
She said she arrived at the facility after receiving an automated call from the building’s fire alarm system.
“The fire damage was horrific in those two classrooms,” Shelor said. “It’s about $225,000 worth of damage to the building.”
VICCC is now working with insurance adjusters, cleaning crews and contractors to reopen as soon as possible, according to a press release from the center.
The center was founded in 2004 by retired teachers and members in the community to provide childcare services for low-income families with children. Twenty-four families were enrolled, according to Shelor, with daily operations attending to about 34 children. Only about 20% of families pay for childcare and kindergarten preparation services at full price.
“They really eased my mind about staying on as a working mom, allowing my child to go to a center where they’re safe and loved,” says Beverly Langford, a Blacksburg resident and mother of three children. Her youngest, now 2 years old, has been enrolled at VICCC since he was eight weeks old, she said.
The support that families such as the Langfords receive from VICCC covers 100% of the cost of childcare and the necessary supplies, such as diapers, wipes, meals and snacks. The center follows a teaching curriculum that includes exposure to art and music, preparing children for the next step in their educational careers — kindergarten.
Now, a teacher from VICCC continues to care for Langford’s child so that she can continue to work part time, Langford said.
“We do have the added cost of a babysitter right now, but for us, that is just a short-term sacrifice that our family will make until VICCC is able to rebuild and reopen, and we’re okay with that,” she said.
Shelor says she hopes to reopen the facility by June 1, “but we will not be opening those two rooms until probably the fall so we will be limited on the children that can return.”
VICCC’s first priority is their families, Shelor said. A number of them are on public assistance and childcare assistance so the center helped get them in touch with social services so that they could go to another center, Shelor said.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 42% of people in Blacksburg live below the poverty line, significantly higher than the 12.5% national average. However, that number is skewed by the college student population. Recent studies have shown Blacksburg’s poverty rate is only slightly above the national average when the impact of the student population is factored in.
The need to support low-income families is what drove VICCC founding member Jeanne Roper to open the center, starting back to their first fundraising event in 2003, a yard sale that raised $2,000 more than expected, she said.
“I’ve said this 10 million times, and I’m going to tell it to you the 10 million and first time,” Roper said in an interview, “I think the most important thing you’ve ever learned in your life, you’ve learned when you’re two, and that is whether the world cares about you, values you or wants to uplift you. I think that’s an advantage for starting life, that no other advantage can possibly compete with.”