Center offers child care for migrant families

BY Barbra Hernandez

KENDRICK - Daniel Jaime is a thankful man. Growing up with his migrant parents among orange groves and apple orchards 26 years ago, there were few opportunities for children like him to get proper preschool education. Luckily, his parents took advantage of one of them.

As a child, Jaime was enrolled in an early education center in Eagle Lake, operated by the Redlands Christian Migrant Association, a nonprofit, non-sectarian group providing child care services and education for the children of migrant and rural farmworkers in Florida.

"Many doors opened for me," Jaime recalled.

Now, Jaime hopes many more will open for Marion County children with the inauguration of RCMA's first child care center in the county.

On Tuesday, the association held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Kendrick Child Development Center at the former United Methodist Church of Kendrick facilities at 2949 N.W. 63rd St.

"[This represents] a great help and hope mostly because, otherwise, they would be in the fields, on the blueberry farms, in the cars, in a place where maybe one woman is taking care of 20 children. Here, they are learning," said Jaime, who directs operations at the center.

The center, which unofficially opened in September, offers free day care and early education services for the children of 25 migrant families. Most of the children are of Hispanic origin. Their families have come to Marion from other counties in Florida and some from other states, including Georgia and North Carolina.

The center, which is funded by federal money from the Migrant Head Start program, also provides transportation for the children, developmental assessments, health care services and referrals to local agencies.

"Most of the time, the families are really needy," said Reina Mendez, the center's family support specialist. "They're under the poverty level. Some families are living in studio trailers .Ê.Ê. yet paying high prices for electricity and rent.

"Besides, they're afraid of going out and asking for services. Many are not even aware of the services available," Mendez said.

RCMA Executive Director Barbara Mainster said that need is what drove the association to consider opening a center in Marion three years ago.

"We did a needs assessment and found, in fact, that, yes, there were peanuts, there were melons, there were blueberries and there was no group serving the farmworker population," Mainster said. "So we applied for a grant in the federal government, and we got it and up we came."

And that's made parents like Guberlinda Rodriguez grateful.

Her 2-year-old daughter, Sandy Zulema, has been attending the center since fall.

"I got very interested because I want my daughter to learn English just as well as Spanish. This is a very nice place, and they give her good attention," Rodriguez said in Spanish. "My daughter has nothing to complain about."

Neither does Daniel Jaime.

"One of the parents once told me 'You can offer my child what I can't,' and that's something I will never forget, because it means we are doing something good for those children and those families," he said.

Jaime said RCMA hopes to expand its local reach in the near future by partnering with a local church. More than 25 families are on a waiting list for enrollment at the Kendrick location.