Why create pods?
Child-Care Problem
According to the 2021 Jefferson County Child Care Needs Assessment by Jefferson Healthcare. “Seventy-three percent (73%) of parents in Jefferson County find it hard or difficult to find child care and one-third reported reducing their work hours to attend to child care issues.”
The solution
Faced with these challenges, we teamed together – as parents, entrepreneurs, and caring adults – to form the Heartberry PS, a pod model of child care and community-based solution.
Benefits of the Pod Model.
- Create a safe environment for child care
- Support parents in sharing the load of child care
- Foster social interactions between children
- Provide structured early learning opportunities through play
- Promote mixed age and intergenerational connections
Our Unique Approach
Part of what makes Heartberry PS unique is our intergenerational partnership – the Elderberries. Elderberries are grandparents or retired adult volunteers who lead pods to provide support for working parents in the cooperative. It really does take a village to raise a child. These intergenerational interactions are centered around the simple idea that old and young can bring new energy, knowledge and enthusiasm to each other.
Elderberries help build magical memories by connecting three generations.
Be present and be in the creative, spontaneous, care-free mind of a toddler. Praise and love them much. They are our future.
– Juri Jennings, Heartberry PS Co-Creator