Recession squeezes day care from both sides

[RamboLiberal]

Source: MSNBC

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Across the nation, day care operators are in the same boat. The recession hits them from both sides: They are hemorrhaging income as laid-off parents pull their kids from day care, while subsidies from deficit-ridden governments are being slashed at the same time.

In suburban Peoria, Ill., Sister Cor Marie Cielocha, a nun of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, takes her show on the road. She frequently wheedles local groups for speaking engagements, where she can ask for donations to pay for the daily operations of the nonprofit Children’s Center of Tazewell County in Creve Coeur, where she has taught disadvantaged children for more than 50 years.

“I explain the program to them and then beg for donations, financial donations to keep these kids here,” Sister Cor Marie said.

In just three months, enrollment at the Children’s Center was 33, said Sister Cor Marie, the facility’s principal. Today, it is 20.

“I attribute that to the stress that’s going on in our regular homes,” she said. “The jobs are gone, the bills are still there.”


Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29882470/