Shannon R. - Parent
“I'm what I call a second time mother; my eldest daughter is 20 and my youngest 8 months. I was a single mother during my eldest daycare years and moved from site to site until I found the right fit when she was one year old. I knew this time around what was right for my family, an extension of us. We specifically searched for a family child care provider and couldn't be more thrilled than the one we have - Lucy's Kids Daycare in Chicopee, Massachusetts. At Lucy's we are treated like family! She not only takes care of the children, but us as a family. Lucy is such an important part of our village. The attention to details, including cleanliness, meal preparation for children at any age, simulations and education in both English and Spanish!”
”It took us a while to find Lucy. I began while still pregnant looking, asking other parents we knew, searching sites, you name it, no one was accepting infants. We had a spot held at one place but weren't truly sold on it, so even though it was most inexpensive we opted to keep looking. As we are private payers, we even began contemplating Care.com, but really wanted our daughter to be around other children for social development. We got on waiting lists, including for Lucy's. While some still haven't contacted us to this day; we contacted Lucy and she miraculously had a spot just in time. We couldn't be happier, our daughter will be with Lucy until she goes to school, no question!”
What would affordable, high-quality early education and child care mean for your family? What would be different if you had access to such a program?
“Having affordable high quality childcare would reduce stress associated with being parents to little ones. Instead of paying for childcare, we'd be able to save for college and begin providing even more stimulating, growth development opportunities for our blossoming daughter.”
What else should lawmakers and policymakers know about your childcare/early education needs?
“I'm blessed to be in a solid situation to raise a little one, that wasn't my case with my first daughter. WIC and other supplemental support like transportation, daycare provider stipends for healthy locally grown fruits and vegetables are a few options of how our government is imperative to the early development and successful growth of our children, our future leaders.”