Northfield Childcare Partnership

Expands Choices for Families

Two new childcare centers opened in Northfield this month under an unusual business model: instead of being located in a person’s home or in a standalone daycare facility, both private businesses are housed in the city-owned Northfield Community Resource Center, located at 1651 Jefferson Parkway.

Little Stinkers and Thinkers Child Care LLC is operated by the mother-daughter team of Candi and Paiton Ahlman and is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Maddi’s Makoons is operated by Maddison Qual and is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Both are a result of a unique partnership between Three Rivers Community Action, the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) and Healthy Community Initiative (HCI).

Candi Ahlman is a registered nurse, and her daughter is a certified nurse assistant. They plan to offer a preschool curriculum and hope to collaborate on intergenerational activities with FiftyNorth, which is located in another wing of the building.

“I’m very excited to get some kids in here. I’m looking forward to getting to know them and teach them,” Paiton Ahlman said.

Qual moved to the Northfield area from northern Minnesota, where she operated the White Earth Boys and Girls Club. She comes from a family of educators and plans to operate a Montessori-style program.

“It’s very important to me to help kids grow and develop from an early age,” she said.

The idea for the childcare partnership came about in early 2022, when classroom space became available in the Head Start wing of the building. Jane Adams Barber, Three Rivers’ Early Childhood Director, and Executive Director Jenny Larson began discussing the possibility of providing the space to individual childcare business owners and subsidizing their rent as a way of addressing the shortage of high-quality childcare options in Rice County.

Barber got the idea from a community action agency in northern Minnesota where a Head Start partnership grant allows them to partner with private family childcare providers that are all located within the same building. This “pod model” child care is allowed by the state but is not common.

“We thought it would be a great option for people who wanted to own their own business but didn’t have the resources to do it,” she said.

Bright Spot: NCCC Celebrates 17 Graduates

The Northfield Community College Collaborative celebrated the accomplishments of 17 graduates earlier this summer. Five NCCC students received degrees through Riverland Community College, and 12 students graduated from other schools. 

The NCCC continues to see growth in its numbers of students and in classes offered. This fall, the NCCC will offer six in-person classes, and staff will support students taking an additional 20 classes online. The law enforcement and Emergency Medical Technician career pathways are also continuing. Classes started Aug. 21.

From left: NCCC Director Meleah Follen, graduates Cindy Ascencio Bravo and Mindy Ascensio Bravo, HCI Project Manager Haley Sawatzke, NCCC Student Services Coordinator Candace Godfrey, and volunteer tutor Kay Smith.

Nominations Sought for Housing Solutions Teams

The Northfield Racial and Ethnic Equity Collaborative is seeking community members to join four different Solutions Teams that will seek to address housing and education issues facing the Northfield community. Team members will meet four times over the next four months, starting in September (some sessions will be in-person and some virtual). Total time commitment will be 15 to 20 hours. To nominate yourself or someone else, fill out a survey below.

The deadline for nominations is Aug. 25.

Northfield Promise Achieves National Distinction

In early June, Northfield Promise became only the fourth Cradle to Career Network in the country, and the first in Minnesota, to earn StriveTogether’s Systems Transformation designation. We are grateful to all the community members who participated in the evaluation process and are excited to continue the work to transform systems in Northfield so they better serve all our youth and their families.

You can learn more about it in this StriveTogether blog post, Transforming Systems in Northfield, or in this Northfield News column by Sandy Malecha, HCI Executive Director, and Colin Groth, StriveTogether’s Executive Vice President of Strategy and Development.

COVID-19 Reminder



The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) works in partnership with communities throughout the state to provide safe and free on-site COVID-19 vaccines.

Completing your primary vaccination series and getting a booster dose when due remains the most important way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccines continue to be very good at preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and death. Make sure you and your family are up-to-date on any COVID-19 vaccine doses you are recommended to get to have the best protection against COVID-19. 

If you are unsure if you are up-to-date on your COVID-19 vaccines, you can contact the Rice County Public Health office for assistance. Call Marie at 507-332-5928 or Angie at 507-384-6450.

Walk-in COVID-19 vaccines are available Monday-Friday

8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Rice County Public Health office

320 NW Third St., Faribault, MN

Call 507-332-6111 to schedule an appointment. 

For more information about COVID-19 vaccinations or upcoming clinics, click here.

Northfield Promise has been recognized as a Systems Transformation community by the national StriveTogether network, becoming the fourth Cradle to Career Network community to earn this designation.  StriveTogether is a national movement with a clear purpose: help every child succeed in school and in life from cradle to career, regardless of race, ethnicity, zip code or circumstance. In partnership with nearly 70 communities across the country, StriveTogether provides resources, best practices and processes to give every child every chance for success. The StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network reaches more than 14 million students, including more than 8 million children of color and over 6 million children experiencing poverty. The network spans 30 states and Washington, D.C.