Yairy S. - Guardian

My name is Yairy and my family has always been in the category of low income. Being a family with low income obviously has its struggles, one of them being child care accessibility. When my sibling and I were younger, my mother wanted to put us in a daycare, however, this idea was quickly shut down. My mother couldn’t afford to put her children in a daycare center while she was out working to pay for the bills. This affected not only my mother but my siblings and me as well. At times my mother would have to call out of work because no one was available to watch us. Most of the time, my sibling and I ended up in one of our family member’s homes. They would do my mother the favor of watching over us. Since I was the oldest, at times I would have to be an adult at such a young age. I would have to watch over my siblings, and anything that happened to them fell under my responsibility. Now that I am grown up, I am aware that the Common Start Coalition is trying to make child care affordable for all Massachusetts families. On behalf of my younger self, I would like to express my gratitude for fighting for those families that can’t for themselves.