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Carpentersville center for affordable child care moving to bigger facility

Maria Martinez remembers the first time she dropped off her 6-week-old son, Maximo, at the Tom Thumb Community Child Care Center in Carpentersville.

As a new mom, she was nervous and scared, yet hopeful that she was leaving her child in good hands. After all, she didn't have much of a choice. She and her husband, Josue Martinez of Carpentersville, had to work full time to provide for their new family.

Now, six years later, Martinez said placing Maximo and his 3-year-old brother, Xavi, in the care of the Children's Home and Aid, a child and family service agency, was the best decision she ever made.

"I'm extremely grateful for the time these teachers put in, for their love and the care. They treat them as their own," Martinez said. "I can honestly say I feel my kids are in a great place when I'm away at work."

To accommodate more children, Children's Home and Aid is moving its affordable child care and early education services to a new facility on July 27.

Like the Tom Thumb center, the Jerri Hoffmann Child and Family Center, at 229 Lake Marian Road in Carpentersville, will offer services for children up to age 6, said Jassen Strokosch, director of communication for Children's Home and Aid. However, the new 27,000-square-foot building would cap at 230 children, as opposed to 110 at the Tom Thumb center.

  The playground is under construction at Jerri Hoffmann Child and Family Center in Carpentersville, which will open July 27. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com

In the past, families have been placed on a waitlist, Strokosch said.

"We know the need is there," he said. "We wanted to boost the enrollment."

Daycare, preschool and a state-certified kindergarten program are offered every Monday to Friday. Each program follows a specific math, science and language curriculum, Strokosch said.

Nearly all families receive some form of subsidized child care based on their need, which allows Children's Home and Aid to serve low-income families in the community, Strokosch said. Though programs vary, the services typically would cost about $250 per week, he said, but few families pay full price.

"There isn't a hard and fast rule," he said. "We work with everyone that comes in and help them apply for any assistance program they might be eligible for and then decide what they can afford to pay."

The acquisition

Children's Home and Aid acquired the seven-acre property for the new building in a swap with Algonquin-based Community Unit District 300, which owned the property. The district will take over the Tom Thumb center, at 116 Carpenter Blvd., near Parkview Elementary School and the deLacey Family Education Center. It could be used as an alternative site for students facing suspensions or a community resource center, according to district officials.

"It was the perfect deal for both of us," Strokosch said.

Building the new facility cost $10 million, half of which came from an Illinois Capital Development Board grant, Strokosch said. About $1.2 million was donated by Children's Home and Aid board member Jerri Hoffmann, he said, and the rest was raised philanthropically.

The new building includes features specific to child care, Strokosch said, such as plastic pads in the doorways that prevent children from pinching their fingers and a stroller parking area. Classrooms, which are named after streets in Carpentersville, are designed to be age-appropriate, with chairs, toilets and sinks at varying heights suitable for young children.

  The playground is under construction at Jerri Hoffmann Child and Family Center in Carpentersville, which will be open July 27. Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com

Additionally, each classroom has a door leading directly to an outdoor playground.

Eventually, part of the property will be built to include gardens, composting and a water retention area that will be integrated into the kids' science curriculum, Strokosch said.

"Everything is wrapped around curriculum," he said. "These kids are going to be ready for school, rather than us just providing bare-bones child care. This is a huge advantage for our families."

When Maximo Martinez begins first grade at Meadowdale Elementary School in the fall, Maria Martinez said she has no doubt he will do well because of all that he has learned through Children's Home and Aid curriculum.

For Xavi, she is excited for the additional opportunities he will receive because of the new facility, she said.

"They need to have the best education they can early on in childhood. This program assures them the best education later on because they've had it all their life," Martinez said. "These kids get to go out there and be in a safe, fun learning place while their parents are providing the needs for their families."

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