Daycare and degrees: a co-op's dual mission

National Catholic Reporter, March 29, 1996 by Leslie Wirpsa

LOS ANGELES -- At Dolores Mission Women's Cooperative, Latino toddlers get quality daycare and their mothers, mostly single mothers, get a college degree'

Located in Boyle Heights on Los Angeles' East Side, the cooperative nudges some 30 youngsters each year on the first leg of their journey of learning.

It simultaneously provides their mothers, who work at the center, college-credit courses in preschool child development.

Daycare worker Dora Sanchez said the cooperative radicially changed her life.

"Before I learned about these classes, I worked, but I had no way to educate my children. Then I lost my job, so I began to sell perfume. I earned about $25 a day because I didn't have papers," she said. "God put me on the path to this daycare center. Now I have a career and I am learning English."

Encouraged by director Lupe Avila, teachers in training like Sanchez work part time at the daycare center and study part time. Some also maintain other jobs. Many of the women are immigrants who have recently arrived from Mexico and Central America. Their lack of English skills and scant resources had made it difficult for them to enroll in regular education programs.

The cooperative removed language and transportation barriers by arranging for instructors from East Los Angeles, College to come to the neighborhood, on Saturdays to give the courses in Spanish. As part of the deal, the women participate in English classes during the week.

"Lupe Avila is an active member of the community, and she encourages the women to get on the career track. She really fosters their interest in becoming preschool child development practitioners," said the cooperative's childcare administrator, Pat Navarrete-Davids. "Many of these women have later gotten jobs in the public schools or in private centers."

Twenty-eight women and two men have graduated from the program; 22 more women will receive their degrees this year.

The daycare teacher training center was founded in 1988 by a group of women from the Boyle Heights area. The Dolores Mission Parish let them open the cooperative in the Catholic school cafeteria.

In 1992, with assistance from parish administrators, the original group of women sought funding to build the building that now houses 30 youngsters. The project was a community effort, according to Navarrete-Davids. Private contractors donated labor. Neighborhood gang members also gained work experience, serving as construction apprentices.

Many of the children now enrolled, Navarrete-Davids said, were previously "latchkey" children -- they were left home alone or with siblings while their mothers worked grueling shifts. Now they are getting a bilingual jump-start before entering kindergarten.

"Here they have exposure to other children. They have a routine. All of this structure gives them security in their lives. And we are a year-round program," Navarrete-Davids said.

Dolores Mission Women's Cooperative receives fragile support from city and county budgets. The latter, Navarrete-Davids said, may soon be eliminated under national budget reforms because it comes through federal channels.

The program receives no money from Head Start preschool funds because it is an all-day program. "Head Start is only a half-day, and that doesn't meet the needs of our parents who work 10-hour days," Navarrete-Davids said.