Hispanic-serving Institutions Assisting Communities Program
FY 1999 Awardees

Santa Ana College will receive a Hispanic-serving Institutions Assisting Communities Program grant of $400,000 to create a Microenterprise Center for Child Care Providers in the Santa Ana Empowerment Zone. The Zone contains a severe pocket of poverty, with many female-headed households. The Center would increase the amount of child care available to these families, while also providing new business opportunities among this most needy population.

The Center is the first comprehensive effort to increase the number and quality of family child care providers by removing all of the barriers to participation by the population most likely to benefit from this career: women with limited or no assets, who have little formal education, and may not speak English, but have a great interest in children and the need for economic self-sufficiency. Unique aspects of this program include: the provision of bilingual training and preparation for establishing a family child care business, access to small loans ($250-$5000) for business start-up and to meet health and safety requirements for licensing, ongoing technical assistance in business management and child care, and the creation of a peer group that will meet regularly.

Contact: Sara Lundquist, 714-564-6085

Content Archived: January 20, 2009