Neal Announces $1,200,000 Earmark for the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Early Education Center

North Adams, MA - Today, 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. 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.

"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 Richard E. 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."

Funding secured by Congressman Neal will help MCLA establish an Early Education Center, providing 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, said Dr. 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."

These funds will allow MCLA to renovate its Church Street Center into a high-quality facility that provides essential, 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.

Under guidelines issued by the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, members of Congress requested CDS funding for projects in their state for Fiscal Year 2026. CDS requests were restricted to a limited number of federal funding streams, and only state and local governments, and eligible non-profit entities, were permitted to receive CDS funding.This project is one of fifteen CDS projects submitted by Congressman Neal, investing in a variety of initiatives throughout the First Congressional District of Massachusetts.

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