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August 3, 2008

Berwyn center a godsend Charities offers affordable care in former school

By Clemente Nicado

CONTRIBUTOR

For Jose Garcia, the childcare center located on the grounds of St. Mary of Celle in Berwyn was a lifesaver that fell from the heavens in the middle of an ocean of desperation.

When Garcia found himself unemployed, the first thing he thought of was his own bad luck and of Angelo, his 3-year-old, “and now where will I get the money to pay for someone to watch him?” he asked himself.

That question followed him until, in the middle of his job search, he saw a flier announcing the opening of a childcare center in Berwyn.

“I came here and we liked the facilities. It’s safe, it’s clean and everything inside is new, with wonderful personnel,” Garcia said. He had also explored other childcare services in the area, without much success.

Opened on June 30, the center looks to satisfy a growing demand among low-income families, who find it difficult, if not impossible, to pay for private childcare.

Open enrollment

Catholic Charities’ childcare facility has a capacity of 130 children, with most from 2 to 5 years old. Another smaller group of children range from 6 to 12 years old.

The facility is planning on gradual growth, adding a variety of programs to respond to the needs of the community, such as those aimed at family nutrition, workshops and classes for parents, as well as recreational programs for children of all ages.

Director Esmeralda Zepeda said that enrollment is now open and moderately priced compared to other centers of this type in the area.

“I am very happy with this center. I have two grandchildren here, one is 2 and the other is 3, and they used to go to another childcare center. They always used to cry every time they came close to being dropped off. Not anymore. They’re very happy here,” said Rosa Garcia.

Optimal conditions

The center, which housed the parish school until it closed in 2005, is divided into classrooms by age, and each classroom has a variety of games, a telephone and specially designed children’s bathrooms.

The classrooms are equipped with new furniture and some have computers with educational games, as well as a computer for the caregiver. Zepeda said that the construction of this center was also made possible by the support of the families, 80 percent of whom are Hispanic. The classroom decorations were done by a local resident and neighbor, who loves to paint.

“We want parents to become more involved in the education of their children as well as in the school. We want them to come in and ask us questions,” Zepeda said.

Informing parents of their children’s daily activities is a priority.

Posted all along the hallways are activity updates, including what their children ate at lunch.

One of Zepeda’s goals is to offer parents English as a second language classes. For starters, they’ve begun organizing book clubs.

Hope for more

Agustin Valdes, who has a 4- year-old and a 2-year-old at the center, said it relieved a major headache, because he didn’t have anyone to leave his children with, much less pay what other childcare centers are asking.

“Since I found out that it was run by Catholic Charities, I came without giving it a second thought. The teachers are professional, the children are in a safe environment and they take good care of them. Hopefully other parishes in the area will open this service as well,” he said.

Father Michael Boland, administrator of Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of Chicago, said working families and low-income families with children have been forced to move from the city to the suburbs because of gentrification, and many of them have moved to Cicero and Berwyn.

“The need for a family-based center is enormous. Working parents, especially those that have low-paying jobs, often cannot pay for adequate childcare for their own children, even when both parents work. The reasons are many,” said Boland.

In spite of this dilemma, the number of childcare programs for children ages 0 to 5 have not kept pace with the population growth. Based on a study completed in 2003 in Illinois, Cicero and Berwyn occupied first and second place in childcare need, with Berwyn covering only 27 percent of the needs of the children in the community, Boland wrote in a Catholic New World column.

Good fortune

Liz Reyes, who has her 3-yearold son, Rafael, at the childcare center, said she felt “very fortunate” because it was very difficult to find a center that would look after her children all day long at an affordable cost.

Reyes worked for a non-profit agency that conducted a study on similar childcare centers that later gave Catholic Charities recommendations on external and interior building remodeling. “My son is happy,” she asserted.

For people like Jose Garcia, the transformation of the school of St. Mary of Celle not only represented economic relief, but spiritual relief as well.

In a moment of desperation, Garcia was very close to taking his son, Angelo, to a non- Catholic church that also offered childcare. “I thought about taking him there with a lot of regret because we’re Catholic. My whole family is Catholic,” he said.

For more information about the center, please contact Esmeralda Zepeda at (708) 303-3650. The childcare center is located at 1428 Wesley Ave in Berwyn.

Nicado is news editor of Chicago Catolico.