Mis Primeros Posos, a new bilingual child care facility in Ellsworth, will serve 40 children from infancy to five years old. Mis Primeros Posos photos
Mis Primeros Posos, a new, bilingual child care center within Families First Community Center (FFCC) in Ellsworth, now offers affordable care to local families and residents of FFCC.
FFCC has residential and outreach programs for families and their minor children who are experiencing homelessness. MaineCF’s competitive grant programs and grants from donor-advised funds have supported FFCC since before its first residents arrived in March 2021. (Listen to our podcast with Terri Ouellette of FFCC.)
Mis Primeros Posos (My First Steps) helps meets the need for quality child care in Hancock County and offers employment opportunities in the community for both English- and Spanish-speaking.
Mis Primeros Posos is located within Families First Community Center, which allows its residents to have onsite child care.
The center currently cares for 13 children – ages 11 months to five years – with plans to expand staff and capacity to 40 children. It has a waitlist for families from as far away as Bar Harbor who want to enroll their children in the program so they can learn Spanish and experience cultural diversity.
Thania Hernandez, head of Mis Primeros Posos, previously taught at Rayitos del Sol – a bilingual child care center in Milbridge. She worked with Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) to identify the community’s child care needs, formulate a business plan, and bring the program to life. (Read more about Rayitos del Sol here.)
MaineCF has supported CEI’s Child Care Business Lab with grants to expand the availability of child care throughout the state, particularly for communities of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color as part of its Strong Start initiative.
“Partnerships such as these strengthen communities and support our mission to build a better Maine,” Laura Lee, MaineCF director of grantmaking, said.
