East African Women's Center

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		Everybody knows that learning English is critical to economic well-being. However, many mothers have not been able to attend ESL classes because there has been no free or affordable childcare in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.
	Until NOW. Mothers who are enrolled in English as a Second Language can now drop off their infants and toddlers while they go to classes. The Women’s Center opened “Children‘s School” after Labor Day 2006 and both morning and afternoon sessions are full and have waiting lists. Children’s School is identified as “legally unlicensed,” and we are limited to 10 children at one time. Also, mothers have to be within the Riverside Plaza complex, and children can only stay for three hours. Children‘s School is popular with the mothers—and with the children. From 10 weeks to 5 years of age, children in Children’s School learn through play in a warm cozy environment. Sometimes, they even cry when they have to go home!

				Children’s School is a huge success. One mother who has been using the Women’s Center’s childcare since September 2006 says, “My children are happier, they play better together, and they are learning to share.”
			“We are extremely thankful for the East African Women’s Center’s family child care program,” says Pearl Savage, ESL Coordinator for the Riverside Plaza TenantsAssociation. “Having child care available on-site at Riverside Plaza provides young mothers, who are residents here, the opportunity to participate in our ESL classes. Confident that their children are receiving quality, culturally competent child care, these mothers are free to focus on their learning. They have proved to be highly motivated students who attend classes regularly, participate fully and, as measured by recent test scores, making good progress with their studies.”
CSCM’s Women’s Center invested in learning toys to give toddlers the opportunity to learn through play. This train set is extremely popular with children and teaching them to share and cooperate.
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