Youth initiated, school based daycare center....

STUDENTS AT SIMPSON ACADEMY FOR YOUNG WOMEN CREATE SCHOOL-BASED DAYCARE CENTER

Chicago—March 25, 2009—The Night Ministry, in partnership with Alternatives, Inc., is pleased to announce the support of the Simpson Academy for Young Women. Throughout the 2008-2009 school year, the students at Simpson Academy have been working on plans to open a school-based daycare center for their children.

The daycare center presentation will take place at the Simpson Academy Cafeteria, 1321 South Paulina Street on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 12:30pm.

The Simpson Academy for Young Women is now the only school in Chicago that serves pregnant and parenting girls between the ages of 11 and 18. Simpson offers a general education curriculum in a nurturing environment that includes social work services and counseling services for students and their families. In their Job Readiness class, the students were surveyed and recognized a pressing need for a day care center, especially since Simpson is a school for pregnant and parenting girls. As part of their curriculum, the students collaborated to research and develop a viable plan for a school-based daycare center from a teen parent’s perpective. In creating their center, students created a budget, daily schedules and activities, menus, safety regulations, and staff.
The goal of this project is to promote healthier families and decrease subsequent pregnancy with teen parents. Funding is from by The Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services.
For more information about the Daycare Center Presentation at Simpson Academy for Young Women, contact Carmen Curet at 773.506.7474 X226. For more information about the Response-Ability Pregnant and Parenting Program in Lakeview, please call Melissa Maguire at 773.506.6007.

Alternatives, Inc. is a not-for-profit youth and family service agency established in 1971, serving Chicago's northeast communities of Uptown, Edgewater, Rogers Park, Lakeview, North Center, Lincoln Square and West Ridge. The agency's mission is to facilitate personal development, strengthen family relationships, and enhance the community's well being. The organization has grown from a small, single site offering substance abuse services to a multifaceted agency that employs 50 full-time staff, manages over 175 volunteers and serves over 3,000 youth and families annually.

The Night Ministry connects with Chicago’s vulnerable youth and adults, providing basic supplies, self-care supplies, free healthcare, housing and supportive services for youth, referrals to other resources, and more. We offer services at the moment of need on the street, a mobile health bus, and our shelter and supportive services programs for homeless youth.