“Thinking back to where I was a few years ago, barely able to pay my bills, compared to where I am now, I feel blessed,” said Teta, a client of LSI. 

LSI’s Child Care Business Development program helps individuals like Teta, a single mother of three, start her own in-home child care business and support her family while providing culturally appropriate child care to her community. 

After hearing about LSI’s Child Care Business Development program through a friend at her local church, Teta enrolled in the program as a single mother of three young girls while working full-time. She knew the struggles of finding culturally appropriate, affordable child care for her children and wanted to help other families in her community. 

Teta worked around the clock to make the dream of owning her own business a reality – so much so that she worked on class material for LSI’s program during her breaks at work. After about four months, Teta became certified to open up her own at-home child care business, where she now cares for ten children. 

The LSI Child Care Business Development program helps immigrants, refugees, and non-native English speakers to start or expand licensed in-home daycare businesses through education, training, language, business, and other support. LSI’s program began in 2012 with the goal of expanding culturally and linguistically appropriate care and providing small business opportunities for secondary income earners.

“LSI has been a huge help in this journey for me and my three kids,” said Teta. “Because of LSI’s Child Care Business Development program, I can stay home to watch my kids grow and learn, and I am able to do things like help my 8-year-old daughter with her homework.”

Since the program’s inception, LSI has helped over 200 providers from 16 language groups start home-based child care businesses in Polk County. As a result of LSI’s work, the majority of home-based child care providers in Polk County are now immigrant and multi-lingual providers. 

Teta doesn’t just care for the children in her child care business but helps them learn, grow, and have new experiences. She prioritizes teaching young children to count and the alphabet, and takes the kids on outings, such as going to the local zoo. 

“We have people in the community who need child care and are looking for a provider that speaks their language and has a similar background , lives close to them, and is open during their working hours,” said Mu Da Paw, LSI Community Resource Navigator. “By providing culturally appropriate, high-quality child care, LSI is helping solve the child-care crisis in Iowa.” 

Through additional support from the State of Iowa and Iowa Women’s Foundation, LSI is expanding the Child Care Business Development program to key communities in Iowa such as Sioux City, Buena Vista County (Storm Lake), Black Hawk County (Waterloo), and Scott County (Davenport). 

“LSI’s classes help you learn how to better care for infants and young children. Where some people were born, we did not have the privilege of knowing how to care for children and infants,” said Teta. “At LSI, I learned how to perform CPR, and now I know how to save my own kids and my child care kids in an emergency.” 

In the beginning, Teta’s goal was to make enough income to support her three children and create a better life for her and her family. Through LSI’s services, she surpassed that goal and even purchased a new car for her and her children. 

“I want to thank LSI for approving me to be a child care provider and helping me put food on the table for my three kids. Working with LSI has been an honor and a blessing, and I want to make sure my children follow in my footsteps.” 

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