The Steady Steps of Mason Annual Spring Fiesta Fundraiser will be held on March 29 at 5:00 p.m. in the River of Life Gymnasium. The evening features a meal catered by Nacho’s, a silent auction and a live cake auction. There is still time for businesses to donate to the auction. Meal and auction donations are tax deductible because Steady Steps is a 501c3 charitable organization. One hundred percent of funds raised go into programs and tuition support.
Sapien observed, “The generosity of the people of the community of Mason has been and continues to be fantastic.” Sapien analyzed data from the 2024 auction to identify popular items and Steady Steps parents have been working from that list as well as other resources since January to make this the best year ever. Sapien said Steady Steps families have become more aware of their financial challenges and want to gram which fosters spiritual, cognitive, emotional and physical growth and is available and accessible to all children and their families in the community. Located at First United Methodist Church (FUMC), it is open to all children, regardless of church affiliation. It offers a sliding scale fee structure to enable children of any economic background to attend. Steady Steps is governed by a Council with members including FUMC members, community members who are not affiliated with the First United Methodist Church and parents. Matt Underwood is currently Council chair. Since its founding, Steady Steps has served nearly 1,000 children.
Steady Steps Director, Freddy Sapien, a 2002 Mason High School graduate, returned to Mason after a career in business management and stepped into the role of Director three years ago. When asked how things are going he was quick to answer, “I manage a small but mighty staff that nurtures and develops more than 30 children.” Programmatically, Sapien said things are going great. Financially, they are seeking to support from the Mason community, from grants and through increases in tuition.
Given his background in business, budgeting at Steady Steps was a surprise. “This is the first job I’ve ever had where you plan a budget with a deficit.” He said they plan for a deficit and pray that God will come through. They rely on fundraisers, private donations and government grants to keep the doors open.
Much like local small businesses, Steady Steps is struggling to keep pace with inflation and pay staff competitively. According to Sapien, the tuition charged per student only covers about 50 percent of the cost to educate a child. That percentage shrinks for babies and toddlers, who require more supervision. Tuition is well below the going rate, even for families who pay full price.
Even though First United Methodist Church covers the building expenses, utilities and insurance, staff costs like salaries and health insurance have increased as has the cost of food for snacks, furniture and other supplies. Based on a review of national statistics Steady Steps charges far less than the national average. For example, according to Care. com, one week of daycare for one infant costs parents an average of $321 compared to about $183 a week at Steady Steps. For a toddler, the weekly average is $293 compared to Steady Steps rate of about $165 per week. Factor in the sliding scale fee structure, which reduces the number of families paying full tuition, and it is easy to see why prayer and fundraising are an essential part of the budget process.
Sapien and Underwood are pursuing several fundraising efforts to cover the budget deficit that looms every year. In addition to the March 29 dinner and auction, Sapien said they will have a booth at the upcoming Arts & Wine Fest April 5. They currently have Geraniums for sale, “Back by popular demand, the geranium fundraiser is something we are doing after we had many people asked if we were going to start selling them again.” Mason Bank, The Commercial Bank, Candence Bank and the City of Mason office have order forms available or you can email [email protected]. Order deadline is April 5 and flowers will be ready for pickup at FUMC on April 18 between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
Steady Steps is the only licensed facility in Mason County that operates on business hours. This means that parents who work a typical 8:00-5:00 day can drop off and pick up their children and work full time. Kingdom Kids, a mission of River of Life Church Gymnasium, is available two days a week and Headstart, which operates Monday-Friday, closes earlier in the day. There are home-based daycare settings, but they are limited as to how many children they can serve.
On a typical day, a twoyear- old Steady Steps student will be greeted by adults, have breakfast with classmates, have circle time and learning centers, play outside, have lunch, nap, go outside for more learning and a snack and then get ready to go home. All of this is supervised by a team of caring staff with anywhere from two-tothirteen years’ experience working at the facility.
In 2023, Steady Steps added after-school care. Children are picked up from school, given a snack and help with homework and then play inside or outside depending on the weather. After-school care also uses a sliding fee scale based on income to ensure that all eligible Mason children have access.
Sapien stressed that he wants to offer a united front to the community in terms of options for care, “We may operate from the First United Methodist Church, but the children we take care of are not only Methodist church members.”
If you have questions or want more information about Steady Steps or the fundraisers, Freddy Sapien can be found most days at the Center on the north side of FUMC or call 325-347-0043.
