Melvina Vandross

Taking care of children is in my blood. I love having children around me, and my mother was like that too. In Brownsville, Brooklyn, where I was raised, all the kids in the neighborhood came to our house day and night. I am 60 years old and have been caring for children from poor families in my home for 18 years.

My three biological children are grown, and I have adopted two kids—the youngest is in middle school. I have always worked closely with my children’s teachers, so as a home daycare provider, I work very closely with the families of the children I care for.

It’s rewarding to me to teach children and see them grow. Right now I take care of two children who are starting kindergarten in September. When they first came to me, they spoke only Spanish. Now they speak English and know their colors and letters. It’s important that I provide them with a foundation that their teachers can build on.

The children keep me going to do this difficult work, but the childcare system needs a whole makeover from the pay to the way providers are treated. My work is undervalued and unsupported. The subsidy rate in New York is too low to cover the real cost of care. I get paid a flat rate of $18.60 cents a day to care for each child even though most of the time that child is with me for 10 or 11 hours a day.

With what I earn—less than $19,000 per year—I can’t support my family. My son recently needed tutoring, but I could not afford it. I am healthy now but if I get sick, I have no health insurance. After 18 years, I will have no pension when I retire.

If the state or city treats us unfairly, where do we go? There is no one to turn to if a payment is late or if there is a problem with one of the many government agencies we must deal with. Nobody wants to hear your voice. You just get shifted from agency to agency.

This is not the way it should be in this country. We should earn a living wage. We should be paid on time. We should be reimbursed for the money we spend on food and instructional supplies for the children. We should have health and retirement benefits. We should have sick days and a paid vacation. With a union, we would have a voice. We would have representation.

I want the public to know that we are important. We are the ones who set the foundations for education. It’s important that we have professional development in early child care education. Love and nurturing are important too, but learning techniques to stimulate and educate children is essential. We’re not asking for anything that the parents of the children we care for wouldn’t want us to have.

Before becoming a childcare provider, Melvina Vandross operated vacation Bible camps and worked with children for the New York City Department of Social Services.