Hartland church opens Treehouse, before- and after-school program

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Jon Goodwin, pastor of Hartland Bible Church in Gasport, center, plays Uno at a kids’ table with Sue Cheasty, teacher, and Debbie Smith, director of the new before- and after-school program the church recently began.

GASPORT – The Hartland Bible Church has stepped up to fill a need by opening a before- and after-school program.

The Roy-Hart school district was able to run the program with a grant during the Covid pandemic. When the grant ran out, the district announced last spring it would not be running the program when school year started in September.

From left, Pastor John Goodwin at Hartland Bible Church, Sue Cheasty of Gasport and Debbie Smith of Medina pose in the hallway of the church’s children’s wing. The church has recently taken over a before- and after-school program after Gasport school dropped it. Smith is director of the program and Cheasty a teacher.

“You could see immediately the frustration for parents of not having a place for their kids, and the financial burden it would be,” said John Goodwin, pastor of Hartland Bible Church. “As we are located next to the school, we had done programs with them in the past. The biggest hurdle now would be funding. Our biggest challenge was we would have to pay staff, but we got creative. We started a School Fund and applied for grants and got some gifts from local businessmen and individuals who wanted to help provide a safe place for kids. And they wanted it to be free of charge.”

It took nine months to put all the pieces together to meet all the standards for a licensed day care facility and get certified by the state, Pastor Goodwin said. They had hoped to be open when school started in September, but they had to do updates to their facility.

They call their program Treehouse. It opened Jan. 13.

Treehouse accepts students in K-4th grade, and seven families have registered their children, with room for more, the pastor said.

Debbie Smith of Medina, director of Treehouse, has been a part-time employee of the church for 6 ½ years. She has been involved in youth ministry at the church, and formerly worked in after-school childcare in Canandaigua.

Sue Cheasty is a member of the church who was previously employed full time at the school bus garage.

They are required to have one adult for every 10 children and will hire more people as registration picks up.

Doors open at 7 a.m. and the bus picks children up at 8:50 a.m. Afternoon drop-offs are at 3:30 p.m. Treehouse closes at 5:30 p.m.

Children receive a snack, play games, draw and color, have gym time, free play time and a short Bible time.

Debbie Smith points to some of the drawings done by children in K-4th grade who attend the new before- and after-school program at Hartland Bible Church.

“The church does not make any money from the program, but we realized there was a need for it,” Pastor Goodwin said. “We desire to keep the money in the pockets of these parents, understanding that times are tight. Our program is 100% scholarship-based, which means we are able to offer free childcare to parents. We also wanted to create a safe place for children to be, as there is a deficiency in childcare in our area.”

He stressed all money for Treehouse is kept in a separate account. They will continue to pursue grants and appreciate any donations.

“We are able to be generous because the community has been generous to us,” the pastor said.

From left, Pastor John Goodwin, Sue Cheasty and Debbie Smith demonstrate playing gaga ball in Hartland Bible Church’s gymnasium, where children in the new Treehouse program spend time before and after school.