McNeilly Center for Children

The mission of McNeilly Center for Children is to provide affordable, quality childcare to children ages 6 weeks to 12 years whose parents are working, in job training, or in school. Parenting education and social services are provided for the families of enrolled children.

McNeilly Center for Children is a non-profit child care center providing quality, affordable child care to Nashville families.  McNeilly Center for Children has been in the Nashville community for more than 95 years.  Today, McNeilly Center for Children is one of the largest providers of child care for low-income families in Middle Tennessee. We care for approximately 600 children in six locations.

McNeilly Center for Children was founded in 1916 when Reverend J.T. Coleman established a Presbyterian Sunday School and Mission and named it for his good friend, James McNeilly. The mission quickly discovered that quality child care was an emergent need for neighborhood families. On September 23, 1918, McNeilly Day Home opened as a community based program and began caring for nearly 100 children each day. Over time the McNeilly Day Home evolved into McNeilly Center for Children. McNeilly’s long history includes several building and program expansions to meet the increasing child care needs of the community.  McNeilly provides a safe environment that promotes the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of young children while responding to the needs of their families.