Congressman Neal Announces $1.2 Million for MCLA Early Education Center

NORTH ADAMS — U.S. Rep. Richard Neal joined Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) President James Birge; North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey; MCLA students, faculty, and staff; and state and local officials to announce $1.2 million in federal funding for the MCLA Early Education Center. This allocation was made possible through congressionally directed spending from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Neal included funding for this project in the FY 2026 spending bill.

“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,” Neal said.

“Access to affordable, high-quality childcare is essential to working families and strengthening our workforce,” he added. “That is why, as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, I helped enact the largest investment in childcare 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.”

The Early Education Center will provide a space that meets the needs of working families throughout North County, while creating workforce development opportunities for students pursuing careers in early education.

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

These funds will allow MCLA to renovate its Church Street Center into a high-quality facility that provides dedicated space for early education partners throughout North County. This space will provide a learning lab for students and childcare services for the campus and local community, benefiting a minimum of 30 families and reinstating 12 to 15 early childhood educator/staff positions.