Almost 300 children are waiting for a spot to open at First Adventures Child Development Center, a child care center under Cape Fear Valley Health that serves the health system’s employees.
Some of them won’t have to wait much longer. Cape Fear Valley Health is expanding the center, increasing its capacity by 200 kids to a total of 440, starting in January 2026.
“We’ll need some more room already, but what we’re doing here today is going to make a huge dent in that waitlist and ability for our parents to be able to bring their children here,” Denver Hopkins, Cape Fear Valley Health’s chief human resource officer, said at the expansion’s groundbreaking ceremony on May 14.
First Adventures is one of two child care centers in the county dedicated to serving a specific employer; the other is the Cumberland County Employee Childcare Center, which cares for the kids of Cumberland County government employees.
The centers offer child care services that are increasingly hard to come by, as North Carolina is in a child care crisis. Child care centers across the state are preparing to close or have closed because of the end of federal pandemic-era grants in March.
Since the grants ended, Cumberland County has lost three centers caring for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, according to data from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Child Development and Early Education. This comes as the county has child care spaces for only about 28% of infants, 1- and 2-year-olds whose parents work, according to a March 2022 study from the Early Years, an organization researching child care in North Carolina and advocating for its increased access.
“You cannot be your best version of yourself at work, taking care of your community, unless you know your children are being taken care of,” Michael Nagowski, Cape Fear Valley Health CEO, said to the crowd gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony. “And that’s what First Adventures is all about. First Adventures is taking care of the workforce, our teammates, and their children.”
Tackling a waitlist
First Adventures Child Development Center currently serves 240 children between the ages of six weeks old and pre-kindergarten, making it the second largest child care center in Cumberland County. Once expanded, it will be the largest.
The $4.8 million expansion will more than double the number of classrooms and increase the center’s overall footprint. By the end of the year, First Adventures will be almost 26,500 square feet, extending the edge of the building to the intersection of Roxie Avenue and Village Drive. It will have 12 new classrooms, bringing the total to 22. The playground will also be expanded.
Thirty new staff positions will be created to support the center’s increased capacity.
Hopkins said the expansion was years in the making, an idea she and other staff pondered when the waitlist for First Adventures hovered around 80 kids. Lashauna Cunningham, Cape Fear Valley Health’s director of child care services, told CityView it was necessary as the health system grew and more employees needed child care.
“We’ve got kids that have sat on our wait list for so long, and the parents are doing everything they can,” Cunningham said. “Some of them are in centers—other places that don’t have hours as great as ours.”
First Adventures is open from 5:45 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and from 5:45 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. Those hours are critical for Riley Bowers, program director for the post-graduate internal medicine pharmacy residency at Cape Fear Valley Health, and his wife, also a Cape Fear Valley Health employee. He told the crowd at the expansion groundbreaking that the center’s teachers understand the unpredictable schedules of health care workers.
Bowers spoke fondly of the center’s teachers, saying they care for his 2.5-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son like family. He said his daughter is excited to go to First Adventures every morning and even more eager to share what she learned when picked up at the end of the workday.
“Forget about the retirement contributions, any health care plans, PTO or whatever other benefits that our employees get at Cape Fear Valley, this daycare is by far the biggest benefit that you can receive if you’re a parent here,” said Bowers, who is also an associate professor of pharmacy practice at Campbell University. “And now more children will get to enjoy that.”
Cunningham said First Adventures provides Cape Fear Valley Health employees with the peace of mind that their children are loved and learning every day. And she truly means every day: The center doesn’t close early, even in severe weather like hurricanes. The only holidays it closes for are Christmas Day, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Day and Fourth of July.
Supporting employees
Almost a year into operating, the Cumberland County Employee Childcare Center cares for 39 children ages six weeks to 12 years old, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Located in the old Dorothy Spainhour School at 223 Hull Road, the Cumberland County Employee Childcare Center opened in August 2024 after a survey of county employees showed that access to affordable, high-quality childcare contributed to staff recruitment and retention. Selected for its existing child care infrastructure, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners funded renovations of the old special needs school using $1.5 million from the county’s American Rescue Plan dollars.
“The center is part of Cumberland County’s broader initiative to enhance employee support and address childcare access challenges, reflecting the county’s commitment to its workforce and community,” Faith Phillips, assistant county manager, told CityView.
Chandra Campbell said it was fate for her to teach Cumberland County Employee Childcare Center’s 4- and 5-year-olds. She’s in the same classroom she used when the building was still the Dorothy Spainhour School.
Campbell and the center’s other staff help the children learn everything from social skills to Spanish and math. They serve meals prepared by a nutrition specialist, and play in an expansive playroom and outside on playgrounds.
“The parents feel at ease. They feel good knowing that their children are in an environment where they can learn, where they’re nurtured and cared for,” said Campbell, who is also the center’s curriculum specialist. “You have some daycares that are overflowing, where the teacher-child ratio is not the best.”
The center has no waitlist since it only serves a fraction of its 150-child capacity. Currently, it has one staff member per every five infants, one per every six 1-year-olds, one per every nine 2-year-olds, and one per every nine 4- and 5-year-olds. These ratios meet or are lower than state requirements.
Hannadi Ahmed, another Cumberland County Employee Childcare Center teacher, said the parents showed how much they cared for her and other center staff during Teacher Appreciation Week earlier this month. Parents have also thanked her for the center’s efforts to introduce their children to different cultures.
While the center’s staff are grateful to hear from parents about how their care makes lives easier, Ahmed and Campbell said the real perk of the job is seeing the children grow and smile every day.
“[Parents are] busy going to work, providing for their family,” Ahmed said. “So this is what we can do to help, and we’re passionate about it.”
Cumberland County is considering expanding to 24-hour care at the center to accommodate employees’ different schedules. As of January, employees with late-hour shifts could enroll for expanded care hours until 11 p.m.
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the News Foundation of Greater Fayetteville.