Ellen Cramer, Time for Tots Supervisor, talks with D'Angelo, a participant in the day care program.

Finding safe, affordable child care that includes transportation can be a big challenge for anyone, let alone a homeless mother dealing with multiple crises.

SOS offers homeless families all that and more. Our Time for Tots day care program provides a safe, nurturing place for children from infancy through pre-school so parents can search for permanent housing, find a job, or receive treatment for substance abuse.

Time for Tots is free to homeless families receiving case management and offers transportation to and from family shelters and other program sites.

In addition to providing free childcare with transportation, Time for Tots has a therapeutic focus. We have an extremely low ratio of children to staff (approximately 1 staff person for every 2-3 children). We create individualized plans for each child, refer them for counseling, health needs, speech/language needs and other support services as needed.

Our Children's Services Coordinator facilitates a therapy group for the preschool children that focuses on identifying and properly expressing feelings, building self-esteem, and dealing with change.

Most of our caregivers and teachers have been here at Time for Tots for at least 2 years, and some as long as 6 years. This consistency for the children is wonderful. Our Head Start Partnership is going into its fourth year and has been a huge success.

With our staff's dedication to the children and to educating themselves through workshops and classes, we are finding new ways to nurture, promote self-esteem, and assess and identify areas of extra support that a child may need. We strive to maintain an environment that includes developmentally appropriate and self-esteem-enhancing activities. With parents as partners, we aspire to build successful working relationships here.