State child care grant provides little relief for Bronx school
NEW YORK -- Parents continue to face difficulties finding day care in areas where options are limited.
Last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced nearly $17 million in grants would come to New York City to combat child care deserts, but the funding may be too little, too late for some, CBS2's Jessi Mitchell reported Monday.
An interactive map published by the state Council on Children and Families shows darker areas where residents find fewer open slots and higher rates of poverty.
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The Committee for Hispanic Children and Families just opened a new office in the South Bronx to connect families and providers to valuable resources.
"I think that if you were to overlay a map of poverty and deserts, you would see that there is a correlation there," said CHCF President and CEO Ramon Peguero, "and we all know that there is a correlation between lack of education and poverty. So for us, a desert means lack of opportunity."
Farther east in the Bronx, opportunity abounds at The Learning Tree Cultural Prep School, one of the latest recipients of a state Child Care Stabilization Grant. Lois Gregory fulfilled her dream to open the culturally-curated school 41 years ago, serving neighborhood kids from age 3 through eighth grade.
"You think that would impede them when they go outside to another school? It does not," Gregory said. "They are stronger. They are confident."
Gregory used the award to bolster teacher salaries and enrichment beyond the classroom.
"It just helped us overall to keep a consistent after school program, so we're very, very thankful," Gregory said.
For Chevon Sherrod, in the desert of East Harlem, finding care she could trust for her daughter, Journey, was not easy, especially while recovering from a traumatic brain injury.
"Now that I can't teach her how to read and write, that becomes more of a burden," Sherrod said. "And then not knowing how to get your child in school…I felt that when there was no one helping me."
Sherrod eventually found Union Settlement, which recently remodeled its early child care center operating within the Johnson NYCHA complex in East Harlem.
"A third of our staff come from, live in East Harlem," said Union Settlement President and CEO Jennifer Geiling. "Many more have kids and family members who have attended our programs. It's really a community-based organization."
Union Settlement plans to open family enrichment centers to better serve parents later this year.
At the Learning Tree, named after Gordon Parks' classic children's book and home to one of his typewriters donated at the ribbon cutting, stacks of materials stand packed and prepped to move, making way for a new school tenant.
"He has to be in a competitive market," Gregory said of her landlord, "so another school is moving in. They can pay three times what we are paying. And while we understand that, it impacts our families very tragically."
Enrollment has already dropped by nearly half, as staff members scramble to pack up.
"We were only given a few months to vacate," said Gregory. "So to move 22 classrooms, 300 children and 40 employees in four months, that's almost impossible."
Now the nonprofit school needs to find a new 25,000-to-35,000 square-foot home in the neighborhood in no time. Their story is one example of the challenges these providers face, even after a major victory.
"We know exactly where the poor people live," Peguero said. "They live in these neighborhoods. We really have to double down when it comes to funding."
Future generations take shape through today's decisions.
The second round of Child Care Stabilization Grant applications opens Aug. 30. To see where your neighborhood ranks, click the interactive map found here.
Have a story idea or tip in Harlem? Email Jessi by CLICKING HERE.
