Ngoc Ho said speaking both English and Vietnamese is a huge plus for her clientele. The program has also helped open day cares tailored for Spanish-speaking kids and for Arabic speakers. Lucio Vasquez / Houston Public Media Ngoc Ho started her child care business in January 2021.Ĭreating new day care businesses focused in refugee and immigrant communities makes child care more accessible for locals, Leverett said, by offering competitive prices and dual-language services. workforce has a child under 6 in their household. Third Way’s analysis also found that from April to December 2020, 35 states including Texas saw an increase in the share of parents who dropped out of the workforce for child care reasons - 1.2 million people, a 36% jump on average.Īnd University of Chicago researchers found nearly 10% of the U.S. In Houston, 110,000 workers left the labor force to perform child care, more than most major cities, according to an analysis of Census data by the left-leaning think tank Third Way. The pandemic has only made the search for child care more difficult. “That is one of the things that prevented many of the refugee families from going into the community and into the workforce, were the small children at home,” Leverett said. More than 70 child care businesses have opened up in Houston through the program, the majority by refugee and immigrant women.Įarlene Leverett, who runs the program for The Alliance, said that in addition to helping women to start their own business, the program adds affordable child care in underserved communities so other moms can get back to work as well. But a City of Houston grant made it possible to open up the program to other immigrants and Houston residents. Ho is one of dozens of people who’ve gone through the child care entrepreneurship program from refugee organization the Alliance, which was limited to refugees when it first began. Lucio Vasquez / Houston Public Media Preschoolers learn about spices in an art lesson at the Fort Bend day care.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |