Childcare Ministries Impacting Lives, Both Kids and Employees

Faith Community Infant Care provides a structured, caring environment for children ages 6 weeks to 36 months. Our programs are designed to care for your child’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical needs the same way you would at home. Our staff will work hard to build a bond of trust, confidence, and communication with you and provide nurturing and age-appropriate structure for your child.

As a writer for Faith Community Ministries, I decided to spend some time at the Infant Care (IC) to get to know one of our ministries on a more personal level. After interviewing the girls who worked here, every single employee told me their favorite part of working at IC was getting to know the kids better.

During the children’s lunchtime, I observed the IC workers interacting with one-year-olds in high chairs. As the teachers fed the kids, they taught them sign language.

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Little girl eating lunch, learning sign language.

One little girl shouted to get the teacher’s attention. The teacher lovingly smiled back, motioned her hands together in American Sign Language for more. “Do you want more?” she asked with a smile. The baby motioned back “more,” and received a big gulp of food.

Lucy Doyle, one of the teachers in this class, commented on how smart and teachable the kids are at such a young age. She said that sometimes, some kids don’t learn quickly. “And that’s ok too,” said Lucy. All kids are welcome here.

But as teachable as some of these kids are, Lucy says one of her favorite parts of working at IC is learning from them. Amongst many things, such as how to take care of a fussy baby and understanding efficiently what a child who can’t speak wants, she admits that the biggest thing she has learned is patience.

In the youngest room (6 weeks to 1 year), Kaleigh Lewis and Chelsea Cahill took care of six babies.

“Everyone here is really nice and we’ve become good friends,” she said in regards to her coworkers. The girls said that their coworkers are like a family. Kaleigh told me that she originally applied at IC because she wanted to work in a positive environment. Chelsea and Kaleigh fed babies as they told me different stories about working at IC.

At one point, a baby that Kaleigh was burping spit up all over her shirt, even getting on her pants and in her hair. I watched her smile, instead of getting upset, and gently set the baby down to clean him.

“We spend a lot of time laughing at things like that,” said Chelsea, referring to Kaleigh’s need of a change of clothes. “Sometimes, on the more crazy, stressful days, we look for the fun parts about it and make memories together.” It was encouraging to see how the employees chose to view a “messy” situation as an opportunity to smile instead of complaining.

Many of the employees commented on their relationships with the other teachers. Lauren Nitzschke said that her favorite part of working at IC is “getting to know my coworkers. We all come from different backgrounds and life experiences, but we all love kids.”

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Charming boy who is known for his easy smile.

Some of the employees especially love the ministry aspect of working at IC. Elise Karis, who has been employed for one year, said that it’s the best aspect of working with the children. According to Elise, working at IC is a “really cool opportunity to love on kids whose families may not know Jesus, who may choose us because it’s a cheaper daycare.”

Heather Abbott has worked for IC since the opening nine years ago. She said that she used to work 12 hour days at Macy’s, and they were getting ready to downsize. Her only child was in kindergarten at Faith Christian School so she applied for a job to be near him. She has worked with all the age levels at IC, but she mostly stays with the two year olds.

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Child in the two year old class engaging in story time.

Many might consider the two year olds as the most difficult room to work in at IC, but Heather enjoys it the most.

“I think it’s the easiest. They can tell you or show you what’s wrong. You can do things with them – color, read. As long as you keep them busy, it’s easy,” said Heather. “I love working with these kids. They are fun to be around.”

Heather also says that she loves her work schedule, and that management is very flexible with her needs. Since her son is now in Jr. High, she only works while he’s in school.

Chessa Skillo is the director of IC, and also Discover Care, which is our before- and after-school care program. Both Infant Care and Discover Care are faith-based programs offered by Faith Community Center.

One of the many benefits of Discover Care, says Chessa, is that it frees up family time for working, busy parents. The staff works hard to create a caring environment to help with homework and other organized activities, so that when the parent picks them up they are ready for quality time with the rest of the family for the remainder of the evening.

Faith Community Infant Care and Discover Care are currently taking enrollments for the current school year. Both ministries are always looking for responsible adults who want to work hard to impact the next generation. If you are interested in applying for a job, please contact Chessa Skillo. For pricing, registration, and all other information, please visit our the websites for Infant Care and Discover Care.

 

Alexandra Nitzschke<
Alexandra is a passionate individual who maintains a devoted delight for the creative realm but finds her deepest pleasure in the gospel of Jesus. She is a lover of stories, and has a weakness for dry wit and a good cup of coffee. Alexandra is a Vision of Hope graduate (2011) and the wife of Stefan Nitzschke, a pastoral intern and student of Faith Bible Seminary.