X

Potsdam day care has survived since 1972

Posted 1/27/15

To the Editor: I am sorry to read of the troubles that Building Blocks Day Care Center is having and I hope all the issues can be resolved successfully. A bit of history: In the fall of 1972 I joined …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Potsdam day care has survived since 1972

Posted

To the Editor:

I am sorry to read of the troubles that Building Blocks Day Care Center is having and I hope all the issues can be resolved successfully.

A bit of history: In the fall of 1972 I joined with other parents and educators to form the first Potsdam Day Care Center. That we were flying blind is an understatement.

There were no licensed day care centers here then. By trial and error -- sometimes obstructed by officials who could have made things easier -- we navigated the maze of regulations.

We got the state license; we opened the doors in a building now used as a church. We struggled financially. The sliding fee scale couldn’t meet expenses.

We scraped and scrapped and fund-raised and sought help from the county DSS, the village government and the United Way. We persevered.

But here we are, 43 years later, and the day care center in Potsdam is still in a precarious position. In 1975 as we made a funding pitch, a local official asked me, “Why can’t those women just stay home and take care of their children?”

In 2015 it should be pretty obvious that “those women” – and those men – must work outside the home to support their families.

Working parents and those going to school to learn to support themselves need good, reliable, licensed day care. If there is a way to fix the current situation at Building Blocks let’s pitch in and do whatever we can to help.

It may be even more important in the 21st century than it was in the 20th.

Betsy A. Baker

Potsdam