And now, limited space has necessitated a new facility, and today, it was finally inaugurated in Belmopan. Courtney Menzies was there and has this story.

The current Dorothy Menzies Childcare Center has sat at the corner of St Thomas Street since 1975. 13 months ago, ground was broken in the Maya Mopan area of Belmopan, and today, the brand new DMCCC was inaugurated.

The Belize City quarters had gotten too cramped to properly provide a nurturing and safe space for the children that need it the most. At the ceremony today, the necessity of this move was emphasized.

Narda Garcia, CEO, Ministry of Finance
"The move from Belize City to Belmopan was both strategic and necessary, ensuring enhanced accessibility, improved infrastructure, and a safer, more conducive environment for their wellbeing."

"it includes 2 modern dormitories, each spanning 3,800 sq ft constructed with reinforced concrete and equipped with access ramps for children with disabilities. These dormitories include bedrooms, social areas, a monitory stations and a kitchenette. A dedicated administration building housing offices, a resource center, a dining hall, a full equipped kitchen, storage spaces, and laundry facilities."

Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Ministry of Human Development
"Some of these stories are heart wrenching, you can't even sleep at night sometimes so as Ms Narda has said, it is important for us as a country to have a facility supported by the staff who can really dedicate themselves to those among us who are most in need."

It's the facility and not just the building, it's the facility that we will be dedicating to those special children among us in this country. It was absolutely necessary to get out from the crowded and inadequate quarters in Belize City and I think this is an excellent start.

And it's the children who are at the heart of this project. Both the Prime Minister and the Special Envoy spoke about the horrid conditions that these kids have to endure.

John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I think it's very important. Many of these kids that come here come from some really bad situations and we need to set a place where they can feel loved, they can feel safe, and that we can try to in a way fix them because many of them, mentally, they have been abused sexually, they've been physically abused and so that by having a special center providing all the amenities, we're hoping that we can fix them in a sense. As what Kay Menzies mentioned, she has seen young men and women, professionals, that have been at the Dorothy Menzies Center who have managed to do something with their lives. We have to offer hope to these children. The center in Belize City got too small and they felt that we need to find somewhere bigger. This is only a portion of the land, it's 2 and a half acres so we have a lot more land for expansion to be able to provide probably a basketball court, volleyball court, things for the kids to be able to live a happy and productive childhood."

Rossana Briceno, Special Envoy for Dev. of Families & Children
"It makes a connection to the children that don't have a place to go, or don't have a house, a safe space. Working with children, most of the time, the children I've been involved with, they have a home. As a principal, a former educator, there's always somebody, a guardian, a parent. Unfortunately on the flip side of this, we have children that don't and it's not their fault, it's not by choice, they're caught up in situations and sometimes children need to be removed from their homes because it's obviously not the safest place to be or sometimes they've just been given up and so the Dorothy Menzies home obviously creates that safe space for these children."

And while Dorothy Menzies - who is 92 years old - couldn't make it to the ceremony, her daughter spoke about her passion for helping as many children as she could.

Kay Menzies, Dorothy Menzies' Daughter
"My mother was asked to serve as the chair of the board, I want to say the early 90s, and jumped in with a dedication that you don't see very often. Her motivation was always the children. As I said earlier, her view was if you don't address the children of society and bring them up in the best way possible and take care of them, you have failed society because we have no future to go to and she took that very seriously up until health wise, she couldn't anymore. She never willingly left, she just simply couldn't serve anymore. Her passion always has been with the childcare center, always has been with the children, so I spent a lot of my years hearing stories around the dinner table and trying to help in any way we could, but it was mom's passion."

The total cost of the new facility is approximately 3.2 million dollars.