Several years ago, the Door Community Child Development Center (DOCO) — then one of Door County’s leading child care providers — received a $3 million grant from the state of Wisconsin to help construct a much-needed child care facility on Gordon Road. It was a powerful endorsement of the importance of early childhood education in our rural county.

But without strong governance or experienced financial oversight, DOCO’s leadership borrowed an additional $3.5 million to expand the scope of the project building a $6.5 million facility — beautiful, yes, but well beyond the scale a small nonprofit could realistically support. That loan, now grown to approximately $4 million with interest, became an insurmountable burden. DOCO could not meet payroll. Closure loomed.

The Door County Community Foundation stepped in — first to cover payroll, then to stabilize DOCO, and ultimately to oversee the installation of a new, independent board of directors comprised of local business and nonprofit leaders. That action brought short-term relief, but the debt remained.

Then, just six weeks later, Children First Development Center — another major nonprofit provider — reached out with the same crisis of being unable to make payroll. They weren’t burdened by debt, but by under-enrollment. In a small community with two competing child care providers, neither could reach the scale needed to sustain their operations.

The solution was both obvious and ambitious: Merge the two organizations, reduce duplication, preserve capacity, and strengthen service for local families. Thus, Doorway to Learning was born.

Clearing the Past, Creating the Future
While Doorway to Learning is now strong, stable, and professionally governed, we are still carrying $4.25 million in legacy debt — $4 million tied to the Gordon Road building, and the remainder in mortgage debt on the former Children First facility on Egg Harbor Road.

We are the largest licensed child care center in the county and the exclusive group center caring for infants from Green Bay to Sister Bay. It is imperative we continue operations at both centers.

The state-of-the-art Gordon Road building can accommodate approximately 150 children while the Egg Harbor Road center can serve 75. This is about building flexibility, adaptability, and strength — so Doorway to Learning becomes a model for responsive, sustainable child care.

Your gift to this campaign ensures our community continues to have access to high-quality childcare.

By eliminating our legacy debt, we can shift focus from financial strain to program excellence. By retaining both centers debt-free, we preserve future expansion opportunities as community demand increases.

A Gift That Protects — and Unlocks — Our Future
By raising $4.25 million we can fully own and operate both centers, giving Doorway to Learning the flexibility and strength to meet the needs of today and plan for the opportunities of tomorrow.

The Gordon Road facility will continue to serve as our primary early childhood education site — modern, safe, spacious, and built with young learners in mind. But keeping the Egg Harbor Road building provides additional value that is just as important.

With your help, we can use the Egg Harbor Road site to offer school-age summer programming that gives working parents reliable, enriching care while their children are out of school. The Egg Harbor Road location also enables us to quickly expand our capacity if needed, ensuring we never have to turn away a family due to space limitations.

This is long-term planning made possible by short-term generosity. Paying down the debt removes a looming threat and replaces it with extraordinary potential.

This is not a campaign about the past. It is a campaign about the future.

A Gift That Guards Against Uncertainty
This campaign comes at a time of growing instability in child care funding. Federal supports are being reduced or restructured. The state of Wisconsin faces its own budgetary pressures. For local families, this could mean fewer subsidies, rising costs, or reduced services. As the cost rises, it is working families who suffer most.

Paying off this debt now positions Doorway to Learning to absorb future shocks without immediately raising tuition or cutting programs. It ensures we can keep our doors open regardless of what happens in Madison or Washington. It allows us to offer care that is not only high-quality — but also affordable and accessible to all.

We’ve already made the hard choices — raising fees and tightening budgets — to stabilize our operations. But that is not a long-term solution. With this campaign, we can pivot from surviving to thriving.

A Lasting Legacy
Doorway to Learning is not just its buildings — it’s a commitment to our children, our families, and our shared future. We’ve done the hard work of stabilizing this organization. Now we must finish the job. Your gift to this $4.25 million campaign will:

• Retire the unsustainable debt from two legacy organizations;
• Restore enrichment and cultural programming for children;
• Expand access and affordability through scholarship and sliding scale programs;
• Position Doorway to Learning to adapt in a time of economic uncertainty; and
• Prepare for the future with flexibility to grow and serve.

The door is open. Let’s walk through it — together.