[Town]
[Exterior of Living Water Church, where child care center is located]
[Children playing in playground]
Jackie Branch (interview): “There are so many people that, they don’t have a grandma, or an aunt, or a cousin, or anybody that can be a consistent person to watch their child everyday.”
[Children playing in playground area with Goldie Huff, foster parent]
Jackie Branch (interview): “It would affect the nutrition of children, it would certainly affect the educational opportunities that they have. We do have Head Start that does a great job in our community, but they’re full. You know, so there would be — when I say they would have no other option than not to work, they would have no other option.”
[Child care staff member playing with children]
[Children and Living Water staff members sitting on ground]
Deauna Artis (interview): “It’s helped us to teach them better, to help their little brains learn more, to absorb more, to interact with them more and to just help them be better little human beings.”
[Artis reading book to children]
[Inside child care center]
Jackie Branch (interview): “We’re currently pursuing grants and different things like that to help us.”
[Children playing outside]
Goldie Huff (interview): “A lot of the grandparents are raising the kids because their parents couldn’t raise them. So if they don’t have daycare, the grandparents can’t work. You have to work to have money to raise your grandchildren.”
[Children playing]
Goldie Huff (interview): “You have to teach them how to be kids again. They (the teachers) teach them how to be kids again. And they’re not parents. They don’t have to be the parent. They don’t have to take care of the brothers and sisters. They can be a kid because they take care of them.”
[Parent dropping off child]
[Child playing]
Jackie Branch (interview): “Are they getting physical activity? Are we engaging them? Are we doing this? But until you can individualize the child and know what their immediate need is, you can’t get that hurdle (emotional). And I think that the ladies here, they do a great job of getting to know the child and the family.”
[Staff member playing with children]
[Artis playing with children]
Deauna Artis (interview): “I feel it’s important for them to have a safe space so they know that they are loved, regardless. Somebody loves them. And if something is going on, or they feel some type of way, that they have a secure person in their life — at least one person (emotional) that they can come and talk to and they can come and just feel loved and feel like everything’s going to be ok.”
[Children being dropped off at child care center]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.