About Appleseed

The Beginning

In early 2020, a group of parents and grandparents in rural Rensselaer, Indiana, sat around a kitchen table to solve a problem. At the time, there were limited child care options in our area so we formed the non-profit organization, Appleseed Childhood Education, Inc. and got to work.

Over the next three years, Appleseed’s volunteer board would cultivate partnerships with local, state, and federal organizations to gather the key pieces of a sustainable rural child care center: the facility, the funding and the management.

The Progress

In March 2023, we opened Appletree Rensselaer, a 70-seat licensed child care and early learning center on the Franciscan Health Rensselaer campus with Right Steps Child Development Centers as our management/operator. Appletree Rensselaer serves children from various household incomes from birth through five years old, five days/week, 12 hours/day, 52 weeks/year.

At the time, we were Rensselaer’s largest new employer and created a new employment sector in our area. We offer full benefit packages to our employees who provide a high standard of child care every day.

From a kitchen table conversation to the opening of Appletree, our group was determined and successful. But our work is not done yet. We continue fundraising for Appletree and advocating for rural child care locally and nationally.