Business

Nazareth Child Care Center Closing in JP After 25 Years Due to ‘Financial Considerations’

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The Nazareth Child Care Center is closing its Jamaica Plain program due to increased operational costs, and consolidating with its Dorchester program. Janet MacDougall, Divisional Director of Child Care for Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Boston, provided a letter on May 26 to families of the child care center outlining the reasons for the Jamaica Plain program's closure. "While Catholic Charities continually strives to serve working families, increases to building operating expenses and program related costs of care, along with the overall cost of the renovations necessary to the Nazareth building have become too great for us to continue the program at its current location," wrote MacDougall. MacDougall wrote it was with a "heavy heart" that the decision was made to close the program at 19 Joseph St. The letter states that they're working with the Nazareth teaching team as they will make the transition to the Yawkey Child Care Center in Dorchester.

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City Mission’s ‘Cheers to 10 Years!’ Coat Boston Anniversary Celebration

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This event will celebrate a decade of commitment to outfitting low-income Boston children and youth with brand new winter coats each year. Since first launched in 2009, this program has helped prepare nearly 18,000 kids in Boston for the winter season. The event will be a kickoff for the 2019 Coat Boston program that will include an afternoon of celebration, live music, and fundraising at Bella Luna & The Milky Way in Jamaica Plain. Proceeds will allow these coats to continue to be provided to Boston children into the future. Our goal this year is 2,000 brand new coats, hats, and gloves.

Opinion

We Need Child Care That Works for Working Families

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Jamaica Plain families are breathing a collective sigh of relief that public schools reopened last week, after spending the summer scrambling to piece together childcare options that don’t break the bank. For many, this yearly upheaval entails a costly two-month reliance on paid vacation time, camps, babysitters, and if you’re really lucky, the goodwill of grandma or grandpa. But for low-income families, the challenge of securing childcare that's safe and affordable doesn't go away on September 6th. Because of unpredictable and nontraditional work hours, the steep cost of care, and the state’s woefully underfunded subsidy program, it’s a year-round hardship that Governor Charlie Baker needs to address. The cost of child care in Massachusetts is jaw-dropping.

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