WCAC Head Start rendering
Webster, MA – MassDevelopment has issued a $1 million loan to the Worcester Community Action Council, Inc. (WCAC), an agency that offers a wide range of education, employment, and social service programs throughout 45 communities in central Massachusetts.
After an exhaustive site search, WCAC recently signed a 25-year lease with the town of Webster to occupy a two-story, 8,400sf building at 116 School St. Originally constructed as an elementary school, the building most recently served as a senior center for the town.
WCAC is currently in the process of converting the facility into classroom space for its Head Start program for South Central Worcester County. WCAC has received $1.7 million in federal and state grants for building renovations and has raised over $500,000 in capital campaign contributions for the project. The organization will use proceeds of the MassDevelopment loan to complete the proposed renovations and improvements.
WCAC previously operated its Head Start program in Oxford until February 2016, when heavy snow, ice, and subsequent leaking compromised the building’s roof and resulted in a need to evacuate. The new program will initially serve income-eligible families from Webster but will eventually expand to serve more than 70 children from Webster and the surrounding communities of Dudley, Oxford, and Southbridge.
