Today we’d like to introduce you to Angela Brown-Church.
Hi Angela, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started my Childcare ownership journey in May 1999. I was living in Wisconsin at this time, a divorced mom of three children on government assistance and living in a Hud home in the projects, working as an office temp. job, at this place of employment I became close to a lady who is still my real close friend today. She would always talk about going to this childcare class so she can start her own childcare center, I mean she would talk about this every single day at the job and I would say to myself I will be glad when she go so that she can talk about something different tomorrow lol. Well what I did not know in that moment of time is that it was not meant for her to talk about something different. So, as time went on at this job in the Month of November, right before Christmas, we were laid off from this temp job early, and it devastated me. All I could think about was how am I going to provide a great Christmas Holiday for my children.
I always had a relationship with God and He would always speak to me and show me visions and give me signs in dreams. He reminded me of what my co-worker / Friend was talking about at work with the Childcare classes I had all of the information on the name and location because it was told to me so many times so I called and went to the next class, and the rest was history. This event took place in 1998, and I was a certified childcare owner in my home in the projects in May of 1999.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Starting the Childcare Journey had its ups and downs. I have watched my mom work office jobs all my life and my dad be an entrepreneur. So, I figured it would be easy breezy for me. However, being the one that it all fell on at the end of the day taught me that I had to gain some tough skin and keep my feelings out of the business. In the past, I trusted that people would come to work and care for the kids the way I would without me having to micromanage them and that I could just get paid and pay the necessary bills, and the IRS would get paid when I pay them, but OH Boy did I learn the hard way. I now have many systems in place to make sure that staff are held accountable for their actions and receive continuous training so that they are set up for success. I have a great Accounting firm and payroll service that keeps my books tight. So, everything is under control now, but in the beginning, it was a hard lesson to learn.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about God Chosen Development Center I, II, & III?
God Chosen Development Center has three locations. We are a private owned Christian Based Childcare center, we teach the Abeka Curriculum this is a Christian based phonics curriculum. We do not go into deep Bible teaching with the children, but we do touch on the basics of the bible for the students to learn and understand. The children pray before meals; the students learn prayers from the bible and more.
We provide great meals for our students. We have parents saying all of the time that they wish that they could have a plate, lol. Some of our meal items include Cabbage, Greens, Pinto beans, Great Northern Beans, meatloaf, lasagna, baked mac and cheese, smoother chicken, cornbread, and so much more, and all of this is cooked in each school kitchen by our wonderful chef/cooks.
We are a humble and meek school, but we show up loud for the children and their education and life lessons. Each location have great management leaders and staff. We believe in having a clean and refreshing school. We strongly believe that just because it is a childcare center does not mean it has to smell like one, lol.
We are open Monday through Friday at each location from 6:00am to 6:30pm, we accept children ages four weeks – 12 years year round. All of the great meals that were mentioned are free including Dinner, most schools do not offer dinner but we believe that its needed.
So, many families work long hours or just do not have anything to cook a few nights a week or just do not have time to cook dinner. So, with us feeding the student dinner, the parent is able to give the child a snack at home and get them ready for the next day.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I like this city because there is a mixture of so many businesses in the area and a range of income level families. This allows us to service and help a diverse of families with many different life situations.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.godchosendevelopmentcenter.com
- Instagram: godchosen_1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/godchosendevelopmentcenterI
