Toddlers clutched beloved balls and blankets, while moms shared tearful hugs with staff, stunned to learn late on Friday that “a pillar of our community,” as one parent described it, would be shut down as of today.

The Pleasant View Day Care Center, which claims to be the only facility that directly serves public housing families in East Baltimore, has lost its lease to operate in a publicly-owned building “assigned” by the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) to the Living Classrooms Foundation.

The prominent non-profit, which receives millions of dollars in city grants, says it has higher plans for the property – to rehab it into a state-of-the-art child development center along the lines of the high-profile “UA House” opened with contributions from Kevin Plank and Under Armour.

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