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HISTORY

The initial child care program began with founder, Rachel Aoanan's family day care program in Castro Valley, where three out of the six families she served in her infant program either lived or worked in Oakland. Further researching Oakland's need for infant-toddler care through "Alameda’s County’s Early Care & Educational Needs Assessment," "CA Child Care Resource and Referral 2009 Portfolio" in conjunction with Oakland's "Fight Crime: Invest In Kids Report," connecting crime and special education placements to the city's lack of quality early childhood programs, the founder felt that it was imperative to develop a larger program that would aim to address the negative outcomes of what could happen if young children and families in Oakland continued to not gain access to this much needed service.

Aoanan, able to gain immediate support from professionals who had experience in serving homeless families, sharing the common understanding of how difficult it is for low-income families (or families with no income) to escape poverty when not able to accept a job opportunity because of the inability to gain immediate access to child care. In partnership with a variety of other nonprofit agencies (Low Income Investment Fund, Building Child Care, Small Business Administration, Northern CA Community Loan Initiative, and BANANAS Inc.), the initial board decided on a program model that would serve families from a diverse background of socio-economic statuses and that served as a greater resemblance of Oakland's population.

Now after searching for over two years for a commercial site able to provide adequate indoor and outdoor space, Building Bridges CDC has been extremely fortunate to partner with another nonprofit agency, Resources for Community Development (RCD). Scheduled to start tenant improvement construction in 2010 within the newly established low-income housing development located in the Downtown Oakland area. Where together these two nonprofit agencies will be able to serve a population that is truly reflective of the needs in Oakland.