Shining hope on day care
Gladys Contreras spent an entire day this week scrubbing Shiny Rocks Daycare clean.
The eight youngsters who attend the Stamford child care center she and her sister, Dora Ramos, operate were all
spending the holidays with their families. And while Contreras wanted to rest more than anything, an empty facility meant she could disinfect every surface in sight for when the children return in the New Year.
“Our expenditures are three times what they were in 2019,” said Contreras, pointing to cleaning and sanitizing materials as a major money drain. “And our admissions? They’re at 50 percent of what they once were.”
The cost of constantly replenishing masks and cleaning supplies has added up, Contreras said, adding the aid she has received hasn’t been enough to cover it. But with the prospect of more stimulus money from the federal government on the horizon, she sees the promise of better days ahead.
The $ 900 billion stimulus package President Donald Trump signed on Dec. 21 includes $ 10 billion for child care providers nationwide, mostly through block grants. The funds can be used for myriad of business expenses, including cleaning supplies.
Early childhood education centers in Connecticut are expected to receive $ 67 million.
Like many day care operations, Shiny Rocks was forced to shutter for several months early in the pandemic while the world adjusted to a new normal.
“March, April, May — those were the months where we really made no profits,” Contreras said. “No children, no money, no contracts, nothing. We couldn’t do anything because the parents were terrified, our staff was terrified, and we were terrified.”
When Shiny Rocks reopened in June, money started to trickle back in. Students were welcomed back to the center, but only at 50 percent capacity, and aid money from nonprofits and the government helped keep them afloat.
Before the pandemic, the day care accepted only full- time students. When they reopened in the summer, any business was good business. Contreras and her staff began taking on students for two or three days a week. Some children came in only once weekly.
“We could no longer have the luxury of saying, ‘ No, we only accept full- time students.’ Now, whatever comes, comes,” Contreras said. Her business started taking in students from Stamford Public Schools, too, watching over them as they did hybrid classes while their parents work.
But, of course, that leads to even more cleaning.
“We’re accepting risk by taking care of those children, but that risk means more cleaning and more money spent on cleaning,” she said. “That really has impacted us for the children’s safety, for the safety of families, and for our own safety.”
Applying for grants and aid during the pandemic isn’t cheap, either, Contreras said. She said the application processes for the paycheck protection program and other local grant programs can be arduous. She couldn’t manage it alone, so on top of all the other expenditures, Contreras hired an accountant to help her sift through tax returns and IRS paperwork.
Help from the Stamford- based nonprofit All Our Kin has also been instrumental in helping Shiny Rocks Daycare. The nonprofit has provided her with gift cards to Target and Walmart to help fill in the gaps, Contreras said. That type of money — with no strings attached — helped Shiny Rocks push forward amid economic uncertainty, she said.
“We — all of us small day cares — we just want it to be easier for us to get help,” said Contreras.