YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago 2001-2002 Annual ... - YWCA USA

YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago 2001-2002 Annual Report
Adrienne
Hudson grew up in the
Ida B. Wells housing
complex when it was a
mixed-income area and
the King YWCA was a
youth activity center with
dances, 4-H activities,
basketball and roller
skating. In the 1970s,
government policy
brought changes to Wells
as many of the working
families were forced to
move out. When the King
YWCA became exclusively
a child care center
in 1985, Hudson returned
as its director until 2000.
Today the center serves
children from three to 12
years of age.
“My biggest goal was
to make the child care
center at Ida B. Wells
into a high quality
preschool. No matter
what the income, our
children deserved to
have a safe, healthy
and nurturing environment
where they
could learn and bridge
into elementary school.”
Adrienne Hudson
Kim Valach’s two children, Emily, 8, and Reyna, 3, are
enrolled in the YWCA Northside Child Development
Center.
“I don’t make a lot of money and the money I do
make, I try to give my children the best that I can,
saving for college. It’s just such a reassurance knowing
my children are in a safe place where the teachers are
giving and nurturing.
The YWCA gives me an opportunity to let them
have early childhood development at affordable prices.
I wouldn’t be able to work if it wasn’t for the YWCA.
I’m just so grateful.”
A belief in all children, all families
The YWCA has always believed in the long-lasting
benefits of giving all children a nurturing environment.
Families without sufficient financial resources may
need additional support in order to give their children
child care that promotes early childhood development.
The majority of working YWCA families receive
subsidized child care.
Some families have other needs as well. A single
mother may have to manage tight finances with a
hectic work schedule that leaves her little energy or
time for her children. The expansion of YWCA Head
Start programs in the past few years has given teachers
and parents better tools in working with children and
understanding their developmental needs.
Other YWCA services help families by increasing
the availability of quality child care, especially among
home-based providers who care for infants and
toddlers. We train more than 2,000 providers annually
in Chicago and the suburbs. The YWCA Child Care
Resource and Referral works with families and
employers in DuPage and Kane counties to help
several thousand families a year find appropriate
child care.
The challenge before us is to make sure all children
have access to quality child care.
I believe
I know that the YWCA teachers are instilling the same values that I would at home. They nurture
my child the way I would. They comfort my child the way I would.