Cousins hope to open doors to Teeter Toddlers Daycare soon to help address local need

QUINCY — The childcare crisis is real. 

According to the Getty Research Institute, 52 percent of mothers nationally have considered leaving the workforce due to inadequate childcare, and 33 percent are already out of work as they can’t find affordable care. The percentage of stay-at-home mothers rose to 25 percent in 2023 from 15 percent in 2022. The economic repercussions are severe. 

Cousins Vickie Crider, 66, and Sylvia Tillman, 62, have been bouncing around the idea of starting a daycare for about 10 years, hoping to address the local need.

 “We’re just excited that it’s happening,” Tillman said. “People call us crazy for wanting to work with children at our age, saying you should be retired. But we have the energy to keep going. This is what we’ve wanted to do all of our lives. Thank God, we have the energy to keep going. So, we’re ready.”

Teeter Toddlers Daycare hopes to open soon in the former Caywood Daycare Center in the East Lake Center in Quincy.  Caywood closed in 2018 after 14 years of business.

The date for opening, however, is not set. The women say it boils down to funding to complete the requirements Illinois mandates. They have leveraged their finances and received donations from friends and family. They hope to secure a small business loan soon.

Tillman spent most of her professional life in Detroit. She has a master’s degree in early childhood education and taught for more than 40 years, with some of that time as an instructional specialist. 

Crider has been in daycare her whole life, running a home daycare for 20 years.

 “I have 1,000 grandkids, and I’ve raised 100 of them,” she said.

Having already lived the life of a daycare provider, Crider is well aware of the need.

“There are too many kids on waiting lists, and I had to say ‘no’ to parents because I can’t take anymore,” Crider said. “And I’ve seen parents who quit their jobs because they didn’t have daycare. That’s sickening to me, you know. That’s another reason we kind of got into this.” 

Annual losses due to parents missing work have doubled since 2020, amounting to $122 billion.  Mothers are disproportionately affected, with the potential loss of up to 10 percent of their lifetime earnings per child due to unemployment stemming from childcare responsibilities.

Illinois faces the same challenges. According to the Illinois Childcare Coalition, 58 percent of the population lives in an area where there aren’t enough nearby childcare providers to meet the need. There are not enough childcare spots available for half of Illinois children under age 6.

Finding qualified employees is yet another challenge for local daycares, according to Marla Willard, director of the West Central Childcare Connection.

“Childcare centers specifically are not able to find the workforce that they need,” Willard says. “However, if fully staffed, for what we can tell by population data, we would still be probably meeting only 75 percent of the need.

“It is good to hear someone still has a positive attitude, and (Crider and Tillman) do have a lot of passion. They obviously love children, and they would like to meet a need in the community.”

Teeter Toddlers will accept kids from ages 6 weeks to 4 years. They also will have a before- and after-school program. They hope to eventually offer services 24 hours a day.

Walls have been painted. Baby beds line the walls. Water tables sit ready to be splashed in. A robotics lab is being added.

Parents are lining up anxiously for the doors to open. 

When asked what parents can expect from Teeter Toddlers, Tillman said, “We will build a strong foundation to support your children physically, mentally, emotionally. We want to develop the whole child.”

Crider put it even more simply. 

“We want our kids to run in that door in the morning smiling and sad they’ve got to leave,” she said.

Contact Teeter Toddlers at vsteetertoddlers@gmail.com.