Project One Day

Project One Day (POD) trains low-income parents to supplement Christ-centered, Early Childhood Educators. Each week, parents assist one day to receive four, tuition-free childcare days to facilitate work or school. POD's model improves student-to-teacher ratios, lowers operating costs, and equips parents through training. Parent training includes 1) Pediatric CPR and First Aid Certification, 2) Conscious Discipline's Social Emotional Learning Foundations, and 3) 24 hours of childcare classes via Texas A&M's AgriLife Extension. Classwork includes content on SIDS/ AHT, recognizing the signs of abuse and neglect, and developmental milestones. POD encourages parents to find Christian community and network with one another. This network keeps children safer because parents undergo background checks and drug testing. RESULTS: In 2023 POD served 21 children in need ages six weeks through three years old by generating 45 weeks of tuition-free Christian childcare. Care included free diapers, healthy meals, and daily schedules. Eighty percent of participating parents were single. Collectively, parents completed 504 hours of training in Early Childhood Education. All parents were working or in school 25 hours a week or more and all had incomes less than 85% of the State median income.