Brooklyn, NY — January 30, 2009 — Business Outreach Center (BOC) Network is working hard to empower home-based child care providers throughout New York City’s diverse communities. The current economic crisis is impacting child care services in New York City, disrupting the lives of many working families. BOC Network’s solution is the development of quality home-based child care businesses. Rosalinda Martinez of BOC Network manages a program that does just that, “Working parents need child care that provides a safe and nurturing environment for their children; quality care is vital to each child’s development and lifetime success. That is why BOC Network developed resources to help motivated entrepreneurs create day care businesses and to build quality child care into each program.”
Childcare Graduation Class: Cypress Hills and Bedford-Stuyvesant
January 30, 2009
Child Care Means Business, with over 600 graduates to date, is a truly innovative training that brings together resources among key partners, Child Development Support Corporation, South Brooklyn Legal Services, CUNY Early Childhood Professional Development Institute and local Business Outreach Centers. In the fall of 2008, Child Care Means Business Training took place in three Brooklyn communities with the launch of the program in Cypress Hills, in collaboration with Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation.
On a cold January evening, twenty-four entrepreneurs trained in Cypress Hills and Bedford Stuyvesant celebrated their success in front of their families, local officials and community leaders. The graduation ceremony took place January 30th, 2009 at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Brooklyn. NYS Senator Martin M. Dilan, NYS Assemblyman Darryl C. Towns and NYC Council Member Diana Reyna acknowledged the program with Certificates of Recognition for each graduate.
Altogether, program graduates are licensed to care for over 230 children in their Brooklyn neighborhoods. Graduates completed a total of 55 hours of training in all aspects of running a childcare business. The exceptional training conveys vital know-how in marketing, record keeping and financial management as well as early childhood development. Graduates can take advantage of BOC Network’s micro equity grants, microloans and ongoing business development and management assistance. Said graduate Joan Jawahir from Cypress Hills, Brooklyn “I’m glad I took the training. I faced some business challenge recently, and I was able to have what was necessary for the situation. I updated my flyers, my contract, and I made clear points that in the past […] I was lacking. My life was made easier”.
The BOC Network Child Care Business Development Project is partially funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services through a Community Economic Development grant from the Office of Community Services and Capital One Bank, among others. The project offers free business counseling and seminars designed to help aspiring and experienced entrepreneurs. We strive to offer services that will guide people in any stage of business ownership. For more information, please contact the Project Director, Rosalinda Martinez, at (718) 205-3773.
