Wee Care Academy: the challenges and triumphs of launching Birmingham's first Afrocentric day-care centers - Alabama business started by Gaynell and Elias Hendricks in 1988 - B.E. Report on Small Business

Black Enterprise, Nov, 1993 by Harold Jackson

The extent and expense of meeting such mandates was daunting. But another tidbit of information lightened their mood: a closed elementary school might be available as a site.

It was the old Thomas Furnace School, built to serve the mostly black community that grew up around a now abandoned steel mill. The Birmingham Board of Education was willing to charge them a mere $400 a month to lease the building. They were happy to have a tenant who would use the building for educational purposes, and would include in the lease an option to buy.

Despite its affordability, the Hendrickses were apprehensive, since the Thomas Furnace School isn't easy to find if you don't live in the neighborhood. But Gaynell looked on the positive side: "Parents will travel great distances to make sure their children are getting quality care. Although the school was not in a great neighborhood, it was easily accessible from most of the routes blacks in more affluent areas would take to work."

Deciding to go for it was easy, but getting financing was not. "We knew that starting a day care with no prior history of experience in that area was something a bank would not look favorably at," says Gaynell. So, the couple used personal savings and credit cards to come up with $20,000 to pay for new equipment, fresh paint, flowers, a security system, even salaries and insurance for the first months of operation. The Hendrickses also did a lot of talking to vendors, begging their indulgence until they could be paid. And they made a point of working with other small businesses, establishing relationships that benefited both parties.

One such outfit is Factory Warehouse, a discount supplier of everything from cots to toys to carpets. Owner Rodney Smith credits the Hendrickses with fueling his company's growth. "They started out spending maybe $100 or $200 per month. Now they buy $15,000 to $20,000 a year from us. They've told other day cares, and now they buy from us," Smith says. "We owe a lot to them. Of course, we give them discounts."

The Wee Care Academy name was Gaynell's idea. The motto, "We care about the care of your child," was the brainchild of their then-12-year-old daughter Daagye. Her father came up with the company logo, a circle with a heart; inside the heart is an Akwaaba doll, the Ghanaian symbol for welcome."

The center opened in March 1988, three quarters into the school year, which is generally considered a bad time. There were six students, including the Hendrickses' twins. Unfazed, Gaynell and Elias seized the time to improve their product. They carefully studied the early childhood education techniques of a University of Alabama professor, Dr. Paul Weisberg, who took a personal interest in their plans. "We worked on our strategy for the fall," recalls Gaynell. "We worked on our academic program, attended workshops, started trying to find quality teachers who could do what we wanted."

The next step was to get the word out. Gaynell wrote her own ad copy and, for about $1,200, purchased well-planned time slots on local radio during the pre- and post-school rush hours. "My target was the working moms, dropping their kids off and picking them up, hopefully, from a place they were not very satisfied with," she says. "We knew our market would primarily be black because of the location of the center."