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Parents working holidays have trouble finding daycare, especially for kids with disabilities

A Jacksonville daycare will provide services for children for all abilities. This helps parents who work on holidays.

JACKSONVILLE, Ark. — For parents who don’t get holidays off, childcare can be hard to come by.

It’s even more difficult for those whose children have special needs.

Renee Green’s son Adam isn’t able to walk or talk.

“My son is ten, his life expectancy was two. So, this is his legacy,” Green said.

Things became harder when she learned there were no childcare centers that could meet his needs.

“Everybody I would ask, they were like, ‘people quit their jobs.’ I was just… I didn’t believe it,” Green said.

Three years ago, she began working to open Adam’s Clubhouse. Now, they’re ready to enroll children for the next school year.

Danetta Bass faced a similar struggle with finding childcare, but the holidays bring their own hurdles.

“It’s ten times a greater hassle,” Bass said.

Her ten-year-old son Eric is full of energy.

He’s overcome his own hurdles; he was born with asthma, epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

When daycares turned him away, hiring a sitter was the only option.

“It’s having to invite someone in your home that you don’t know," Bass said. 

"But, at the same time, you’re dealing with a child that may not be able to tell you, ‘somebody’s doing something to me, I had a bad day.’”

Now, she has a safe space for Eric when she works.

“I’m a nurse. The hospital doesn’t close. Luckily, I don’t have to work on Christmas this year. But if I did, then what would I do with my son?” Bass asked.

She said Adam’s Clubhouse will help lots of parents.

“Being able to have somewhere to take him for the holidays, someone that I can trust that knows what they’re doing is a great thing,” Bass said.

Both mothers hope to raise awareness about the need for these daycares.

“I don’t think you realize that unless you have a special needs child,” Green said.

They’ve applied to be a Medicaid provider and are hoping to be approved soon.

In the future, she envisions the daycare expanding across Arkansas.

You can learn more about the organization here: https://adamsclubhouse.org/ 

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