Yesterday, while the children were up and running around, the center’s senior director came over to inform us that the center will be closed as of September 3rd. Nothing like giving faithful employees only three months to seek alternate employment. Also, the decision has been made and is set in stone. There is nothing that can be done; no petitioning or rallying that will get the administration to change their minds. We are being replaced by an orthopedic group. Apparently 20 years of child care service is not more important than knees and ankles. All must kowtow to the functionality they believe will bring in more revenue.

Now, we must all seek new employment. Obviously some of us are in sticky situations with bills and whatnot, but there are some of us who have extra pressures as well. I am getting married next month and was counting on the stability of this job to help build a new life with my fiancee. Also, two of my fellow employees are currently pregnant and will have difficulty finding a job to accommodate that, not to mention seeking new insurance.

Obviously, places of work close and businesses choose to move in new directions, but my issue is with the fact that we were only given three months warning when apparently this plan has been in the works for many months before then. Also, rival centers were warned about the possible influx of new children before the employees of this center were even given a hint about the closure.

We are all striving to find sources of new employment in a timely manner, yet we all seem to feel that we would like to stick it out to the end for the few children who will remain here until the end. The patrons here have become like families to us – especially those we associate with outside of the workplace. How will we cope without seeing children we have seen everyday for years?