Costa Mesa’s Scarlett Lobo was working in the mortgage loan industry but left her job two years ago to start a family. Now mother to a 15-month-old son, she’s looking to reenter the workforce without having to leave his side.
Dennine Gardenhire, 57, of Mission Viejo, had to quit her job as a truck driver in 2019 due to an injury and now hopes to leverage her natural affinity and love for children in her next business venture.
Crystal Morillon, raising a young son in Anaheim, used her degree in child and adolescent development at various school districts but now wants to apply what she’s learned in a more personal workplace — her home.
“I thought, since I just had a newborn baby, this would be the best opportunity to finally move from employee to CEO,” the 35-year-old said of her professional journey.
Orange County has been identified by the public policy group Center for American Progress as a “child-care desert,” where just one licensed day-care slot exists for every 21 infants and toddlers.
The scarcity of services can have big impacts on families, particularly mothers, as they weigh the value of paying for costly commercial day care against the possible income loss associated with staying home with their children, says Cristina Blevins, a senior program officer for First 5 Orange County.
“We’ve found there were $2.27 billion lost in earnings because of the number of families who stay home to take care of their child, and there are 36,000 lost jobs due to lack of childcare,” Blevins said in a recent interview. “For our county, that’s $202 million lost in tax revenue.”
To combat that trend, a new program is giving women like Lobo, Gardenhire and Morillon the training and assistance they need to transform their own homes into licensed businesses that can alleviate shortages in their own neighborhoods.
Operated by First 5 of Orange County, and with backing and support from several organizations, including the Orange County Women’s Business Center, an eight-week child-care incubator program walks participants through the process of establishing and licensing their own businesses.