Courtesy Photo Lincoln Ratz and Ava Klimczak play at Great Lakes Child Care Center.

ALPENA — Since opening the Great Lakes Child Care Center in Alpena last year, owner Mariah Finch has been applying for grant money from the state and federal government for funding.

On Nov. 15, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that the state would allocate $1.4 billion in federal aid over the next two years in Child Care Stabilization Grants to support child care providers in Michigan.

Finch said Wednesday she applied for that grant in November and was awarded $100,000, which was scheduled to be deposited into her bank account on Thursday.

Finch told The News last year she was skeptical any of that money would make its way up to Northeast Michigan, even with assurances that it would. On Wednesday, she said she was happy to receive the notice of approval and the application process was pretty easy.

“We are not sure if we will receive it all now or half now and half in the spring,” Finch said.

She said she must attend a virtual training class sometime after Jan. 20 to learn how and where she is allowed to spend the funds and how to report to the government how and where the money is spent.

“It has to be spent on operating expenses, supplies, payroll,” Finch said. “It cannot be used to build or anything like that.”

The struggle for child care in Northeast Michigan — where many communities are considered “child care deserts” — continues as many parents wait over a year for a spot at any of just three large child care options in the area. Finch told The News last year that she opened her business because she couldn’t find care for her own children.

Even with the money in hand, there are still issues to resolve, Finch said. She explained she cannot take on any more children without more staff and finding staff is still a challenge.

“It’s still the same problem. As soon as you hire someone, they don’t show up. I can’t possibly enroll more kids until I get more staff,” Finch said. “We can take up to 95 kids, but we only have between 30 and 40 right now because that is all we can staff for.”