NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Congressman Richard E. Neal joined Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) President James F. Birge, North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey, MCLA students, faculty, and staff, and state and local officials to announce $1,200,000 in federal funding for the MCLA Early Education Center.

 

"I am delighted to join with President Birge and the MCLA community to announce funding for the establishment of a new early education center. This investment will deliver tangible results across the board: allowing parents to go to work, ensuring our children have access to a strong educational foundation, and providing hands-on training for our future workforce," said Congressman Neal. "Access to affordable, high-quality child care is essential to working families and strengthening our workforce. That is why, as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, I helped enact the largest investment in child care in our nation’s history. With announcements like the one today, we are continuing to build on our progress in removing barriers to workforce participation, while giving our children the tools they need to achieve their potential."

 

These funds will allow MCLA to renovate its Church Street Center into a facility that provides a dedicated space for early education partners throughout North County. This space will provide a learning lab for students and child care services for the campus and local community, benefiting a minimum of thirty families and reinstating 12-15 early childhood educator/staff positions.

 

"For the families who depend on these programs and the educators who make them possible, this is a meaningful and lasting commitment, said James F. Birge, president of MCLA. "MCLA is proud to be the home for this work, and we are grateful to Congressman Neal for making it happen."

 

This allocation was made possible through Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Congressman Neal included funding for this project in the Fiscal Year 2026 spending bill.