Waterbury child care incubator program launches with 2 centers
An investment in families is an investment for everyone
Investment creates opportunity. Partnerships turn that opportunity into a reality.
A Friday ribbon cutting at Waterbury Youth Services opened doors for more parents to pursue the best option for their children’s futures. The event celebrated two new child care providers – Libélula Family Daycare and Wonders Oasis Family Daycare – that launched as part of The Connecticut Project’s investment in child care incubators across the state.
Connecticut needs more child care options for working parents. But it can be difficult for early childhood educators to launch their own businesses because of the costs of getting started. That’s where child care incubators come in. Under the incubator model, would-be child care providers get training, mentorship, and support to open their businesses in host spaces located in their communities. The Connecticut Project has invested in [name what we did], while The Connecticut Project Action Fund also advocated for every town in the state to have the option to host an incubator.
Rosa Alonzo, with Libélula Family Daycare, worked with the incubator program for about a year before her center opened. She’d rented before, which made it hard to run a day care in her home. Now, she can teach up to nine children.
“We can’t house a space in our own place, and yet we have such a passion for this kind of work,” Alonzo said. “So, being able to collaborate with The Connecticut Project in getting this up and running has been such a blessing.”
She’d wanted to help children. Now, she said she can both achieve her dream and make a living doing it.
Just across the hall is Wonders Oasis Family Daycare. Pastel letters still label each center as “Incubator A” and “Incubator B.” Inside, both rooms are filled with soft stuffed animals, reading nooks, quiet spaces, play kitchens, and educational toys.
Maria Martinez’s friend referred her to the incubator program two years ago.
“It’s not often that you get these opportunities, and so to be able to do this work and provide a sense of value to my community is something that has been particularly of note for me,” she said.
She said opening Wonders Oasis Family Daycare is a new beginning.
Thirty educators graduated from the first cohort of Waterbury’s child care incubator program. Each of those educators can now follow their dreams, make a living running their own business, increase child care options for parents, support children with strong starts to learning, and make our communities thrive.
“This is a great opportunity,” Waterbury Mayor Paul Pernerewski said at the ribbon cutting for the two centers. “Not only are we helping establish businesses in the city, an entrepreneurial program to get people having their own businesses here, but we are also providing first-class day care for students, for young people, which is what we need…This is a great example of what happens when we have partnerships – the private sector, nonprofits, government – all working together for the common good.”
