Child
Care, Family Style
by
Dynishal P. Gross
Like
many Americans, Yvette Gore Graham has held a number of jobs in
her adult life. She has been a bank teller, a cosmetologist, a
security officer, and has even served in the military. For many
years, she worked as a health aide in nursing facilities and in
private homes. However, none of these jobs became a stable career,
and the late 90s found Yvette and her family dependent on public
assistance. Now, thanks to educational and employment opportunities
offered by the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE), Yvette has
moved from welfare to full-time work as a Family Child Care provider.
Graham was introduced to the field of childcare through CWE’s
Satellite Child Care Program. Established in New York in 1998,
the program has become a national model, providing an innovative
and critical combination of supports and services. Satellite Daycare
creates stable, union jobs for low-income individuals and much-needed
professional child-care slots in underserved areas of the city.
As full-time employees of CWE, providers receive a regular salary
and benefits, including access to the many educational and training
programs.
Participation in the Satellite Child Care Program requires real
commitment. A 20-week training program prepares providers to meet
the developmental, academic and nutritional needs of young children.
“They
also emphasized time management,” recalls Graham. “That is very
important when you’re working out of your home. You have to balance
between your own family and the business.”
Trainees also intern at an established child care center and prepare
their homes to meet a number of health and safety standards. Training
and home inspection are followed by state licensing and eventually,
employment. “My home is small, so I had to make sacrifices,” says
Graham. “I got rid of furniture to make room for my supplies.
Now if I want to add something, it has to be vertical, not horizontal.”
As a mother of two, Graham brings a great deal of life experience
and common sense to her chosen career. She also benefited greatly
from the example and support of her CWE instructor. “Andrea Rosser
has become my mentor. I’ve been setting my watch fast since I’ve
known her! She is real, she is precise and has the professional
attitude of a champion.”
This mentoring was critical, as one challenge of moving from welfare
to work is dealing with the stigma attached to being on public
assistance. “You’re coming into the business world, but people
see you as a welfare recipient,” Graham points out. “You have
to be able to state your position. I am a professional childcare
provider, not a baby-sitter.”
Today, Graham’s workdays begin at 5 a.m. and are filled with books,
music, reading, arts and crafts, countless diaper changes and
trips to the park and library. She feels good about her work and
her role in the community. “A parent needs to be able to go to
work, go to school and feel comfortable with the care that is
being given to their child. They know that in my home the kids
are being well cared for. I love the children and they love me.”
Graham continues to take advantage of ongoing professional development
offered by CWE. She is also the shop steward of local 1707, the
daycare workers’ union. She dreams of going on to college, and
eventually opening a care provider business, which would combine
her prior experience with elder care with her current childcare
expertise. “I’m not unlearned, but I do need education. I want
that business, and to be able to manage it, and I’ll make sacrifices
to get it,” she says.
CWE
is a joint project of 34 NYC unions, representing more than 600,000
workers. CWE offers free education, training and re-employment
programs to more than 30,000 New Yorkers annually. For more information,
visit www.cwe.org.
Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel:
(212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of
the publisher. © 2001.
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