Round Lake Park business woman wins child care award

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ROUND LAKE PARK – When Martina Rocha moved from Mexico to the United States 17 years ago, she told her parents the first thing she wanted to do wasn’t earn money.
It was to learn to speak English.
 

The Round Lake Park mother of three wanted to start her own business, and she knew she needed the right skills to succeed.
 

Now, she and her husband of 17 years, Miguel Vega, own Best Friends Day Care and watch children from the age of 2 months to 12 years from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. every weekday in their own home.
It’s a job she loves, the 41-year-old said, and one that took a lot of training.
 

But soon Rocha noticed that other local Hispanic child-care providers didn’t know where to turn for training in Spanish. And there were a lot of them – nearly 70 Hispanic home day cares, plus 10 English day cares, exist just in the Round Lake area, Rocha said.
 

So, she started the Together for Childhood Network in Lake County and began to organize free presentations – in Spanish – to area providers.

Topics have covered nutrition, tips on how to teach reading and other instructional trainings to keep providers up on new techniques. And Rocha didn’t stop with educating only those in her own industry.

“We’re trying to involve not just child-care providers, but parents and other people in the community,” Rocha said. “A lot of the topics are helpful for anyone who wants to come and learn.”

Rocha recently was awarded the 2010 Child Care Activist Award from the Women’s Business Development Center at the organization’s 12th annual Child Care Business Expo in Chicago. The award is given to a businessman or woman who creates business connections and raises awareness about quality child care.

“She brings to them the education they need to continue to run their business in Lake County,” said

Maria Lopez, a bilingual business counselor for the WBDC. “She’s a big community organizer up there, and she’s very inspirational, and she’s filling the informational gap for those who don’t speak English.”

What started as a group of 14 in Rocha’s basement four years ago has grown to a current 68 members who meet once a month at the Round Lake Beach Cultural and Civic Center, Rocha said.

Last year, she started the process of becoming a nonprofit organization, though she still looks for free presenters, she said.

Maintaining high quality care is the group’s main mission, but Rocha has higher aspirations, too, she said.

She would like each member to learn to speak English, and she’s providing them with English-as-a-second-language classes, she said. Rocha also teaches CPR certification classes and works as a business administration assistant assessor, giving advice on how providers can properly run their own day cares.
The Child Care Activist Award was a nice reward for all of her hard work, she said.

“This is something that is nice to see, that people are watching and paying attention to what we are trying to do to help the community and help the children,” Rocha said. “I always like to help people, and if I don’t have the resources, I always like to find a way to help them.”

“You do not see a lot of people doing that,” Lopez said. “Unfortunately, a lot of providers feel like they’re alone, especially if they’re not in the city. For her to step up and help the providers and know there’s a growth in the area, she’s able to help a good group of women who stick together and work together ... and stay abreast of what’s going on in the industry.”

Want to know more?

To learn more about the Together For Childhood Network, visit www.togetherforchildhood.webs.com or call 847-630-1273.