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24 / 7 Early Childhood Learning Center

YWCA Central New Jersey has just opened our new 24 hour a day / 7 day a week Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC), which is constructed as a second story over the existing gymnasium roof at our Front Street-Plainfield facility.

The ECLC is designed to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, serving approximately 65 children per shift, for a daily total of nearly 200 children. No other facility like this exists in the region, to our knowledge. It serves families working nontraditional hours, in fields such as retail, nursing, emergency services, hotel and restaurant services, police and firefighters. It will also meet the needs of military families who may have a deployed parent.

The ECLC will ensure the safety of vulnerable children from low-income families who, when childcare is not available outside regular business hours, may be placed in environments or with caretakers who are not appropriate or even potentially dangerous. The ECLC will save working families from the impossible predicament of choosing between the safety of their children and maintaining employment.

Open to all families, the ECLC will be particularly helpful to those who are trying to work toward economic independence. Families who are trying to move from welfare to work frequently have to work more than one minimum-wage job or work non-traditional hours to "make ends meet." A recent statistic cited by CBS News stated that a minimum wage worker in New Jersey would have to work 139 hours per week in order to afford a 2-bedroom apartment. The YWCA will be able to serve families who are facing this extraordinary challenge with the completion of the ECLC.

For more information, or to enroll your child in the program, please call Early Childhood Learning Center Director, Ms. Baaquia Uqdah at (908) 756-3500 x.175. We look forward to seeing you at the YWCA!

YWCA Early Childhood Learning Center

Pre-Registration Form

Please fill out the short form below to pre-register your child for attendance at the Early Childhood Learning Center.  Once you are finished, please click "Submit" at the bottom of the page to have your information sent directly to Ms. Baaquia Uqdah, Director of the Early Childhood Learning Center.  You will be contacted shortly.

Early Childhood Learning Center
After School / Summer Camp
Adolescents and Teens At Risk
TechGYRLS

ECLC Forms