Northern Essex launches free child care program for students/staff

Eagle-Tribune - 1/4/2022

Jan. 4—HAVERHILL — Students as well as faculty and staff at Northern Essex Community College who are looking for child care while on campus are getting a helping hand.

The college has partnered with the Haverhill YMCA to launch a pilot program offering free drop-in child care for students with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, on the Haverhill campus. Registration has begun.

Thanks to CARES Act Funding and the NECC Fund, students — and faculty and staff — can now access up to eight hours a week of free child care while they participate in on-campus classes and activities, college officials said.

Child care is available Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parents must enroll two weeks in advance since space is limited to 15 spots per hour.

"Having drop-in child care available will help relieve some of the stress on our students who are parents, allowing them to focus on their studies without the additional burden of securing quality child care," said Michael McCarthy, NECC's vice president of administration. "We also hope it will give more of them the flexibility to participate in extracurricular activities such as sports, clubs, and student government."

Nationally, one in four community college students is the parent of a child under the age of 18 and, at Northern Essex Community College, the statistics are similar, college officials said.

Iseline Mendoza of Lawrence, a recent accounting graduate and past president of the Student Government Association, would typically bring her two-year-old son to the weekly SGA meetings.

"I think the school saw from my example that it was a need," she said. "Because we're a community college and many students come in years after high school, there is a great number of students with children."

This is a pilot program, and, if successful, the college will consider extending it, officials said.

The Haverhill YMCA has been offering licensed, early education programs on NECC's Haverhill campus since January of 2021. Open to Northern Essex faculty, staff, and student families and community families, the child care center is located in the Sport and Fitness Center at 100 Elliott St.

"We could not be more excited to deepen our partnership with NECC while providing more vital child care services to the Greater Haverhill Community," said Tracy Fuller, regional executive director of the Haverhill YMCA. "The need for child care continues to grow in our service area and our Y has a long standing commitment to ensuring families have access to quality and affordable care for their children. This is a wonderful extension of that commitment."

Parents who are interested in free drop-in child care are asked to contact Julie Jordan at jordanj@northshoreymca.org or call 978-587-5074.

NECC's spring semester begins Jan. 19. For more information about classes, contact Enrollment Services at 978-556-3700 or admissions@necc.mass.edu.

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