On May 11, parents and child care providers in Freeport joined the fifth annual “Day Without Child Care,” in which daycare centers close their doors for a day, highlighting the need for more equitable resources and support for child care workers and services from federal and state legislation.
Janna Rodriguez, director of the Innovative Daycare Corp in Freeport, assembled dozens of parents, children, community members and local legislators to discuss the importance of the services her organization and others provide, and identifying what factors need to change.
“A Day Without Child Care was an event that we put together in 2020, a group of us across the nation came together to talk about the importance of child care,” Rodriguez told the Herald. “One of the things that we talked about was compensation for wages. Equitable wages, especially when we were looking at women being compensated, especially when we look at women of color. That was something we wanted to work on.”
The nationwide event has been mobilized by the national organization, Community Change Action, that does advocacy work for low-income and marginalized groups with the hope of impacting institutional change within the U.S. According to the organization, Rodriguez’s event in Freeport is one of 75 that happened nationwide across 28 states and involving thousands of people.
In a press release about Day Without Child Care, Community Change Action points towards worsening affordability conditions and rising costs of living as major reasons that swift change is needed.
“Our communities are being directly attacked by ICE agents, and the (federal) administration is scapegoating Somali providers,” the press release reads. “We can’t wait a second longer to create the universal childcare system we deserve—one that actually works, lifts the burden off of families and providers and invests in our youngest generation to give them the strongest start possible.”
Several local politicians and leaders attended the Innovative Daycare Corp’s event, including Village of Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy, Nassau County Legislator Debra Mulé, a representative of New York State Assemblyman Noah Burroughs' office and Freeport Chamber of Commerce President Ben Jackson, who is also running to be elected as a county legislator.
Parents who rely on Rodriguez’s child care services detailed how important her support is and how child care workers need to be properly advocated for to U.S. Congress and state levels of government.
“She’s literally like my village,” parent Ashley Renaud said of Rodriguez. “She’s really everything. My daughter is bilingual, since she learned Spanish from Janna when she was two. She’s really a mother, even though she doesn’t have her own (children).”
Innovative Daycare Corp asks all who are interested to support through sharing messages of solidarity and support for child care services.
