Today we’d like to introduce you to Joy Macarus.
Joy, a Chicago native started her entrepreneurial journey as the owner of Tanning Salns in the 90’s. She had 5 stores and owned the franchise until she sold her last salon in 2003. Once she sold her last tanning salon, she decided that she wanted to look into Childcare ownership. Joy went back to school to Waubonsie Community College and her oldest daughter, Lisa who earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology worked to get their credentials needed for Early Childhood education and teamed up with Perry Bigelow, a real estate and land developer in Aurora to open a center in the Hometown Neighborhood. It took 2 years to build the building and get the license with DCFS. During those 2 years Joy and Lisa prepared by working in the childcare field and Joy worked for DCFS for a short time. When the center opened in May of 2006, Joy and Lisa wore all the hats needed to run the business. They were there from 6 am until 6 pm. Joy was the cook, the bus driver and Director.
After 8 years in business a 2nd center in Woodridge was opened in September 2014 with Joy’s other daughter Jennifer who had recently finished her master’s degree in Elementary Education. A year later, Joy learned that a center in downtown Aurora that had been in business for 30 + years closed. Joy and her youngest daughter Jaclyn, who earned her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Leadership spent almost two years restoring that childcare center in an old building that originally served children from migrant families in the 1980’s. That center has now been open since May 2016. Now both of the Aurora Centers are part of an Early Head Start partnership with the Metropolitan YWCA where children and families benefit from quality care that encompasses the entire family.
Joy has always been a child at heart and her passion has always been for helping people. She is the first to give money to the homeless and she never turns people away that may not be able to afford care. She delights in finding the right toys, books and curriculum. The children at the centers know she is the big boss ☺ and look to her as caretaker… and …they always want a hug from Joy when they see her. She is amazing; she has turned this business into something more than caring for children. With this Early Head Start partnership, they truly can improve people’s lives.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has been a smooth road in the sense that we all work very well together. Lisa, Jen and Jaclyn have all had children (9) along the way and most of them have grown up in our child care centers.
The struggles that come with child care are the strict rules and regulations that need to be followed. The long hours of doing paperwork, keeping up with the new regulations and constantly trying to improve is a lot. We all work hard and always have the centers on our minds to the point that some family members may get a little tired of the 4 of us talking “shop” all the time.
Finding qualified staff has been a struggle, we have been fortunate with our employees, many of them have been working for us since we opened!
We have seen a lot of changes in our field, Child care teachers are often considered as simply baby sitters but their work involves much more. Over the years we have watched the Early Childhood Education field evolve and we, in turn, are continuously improving our programs through courses and trainings.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We have 3 childcare centers and we care for children from 6 weeks to school age. Our childcare centers are different because we are family owned and operated and we are very clean, as we do not allow shoes in our centers. All of our teachers are given inside shoes and children are able to bring indoor shoes/slippers to wear. We also focus on creating a family atmosphere, most of our families that attend bring their babies at infancy and attend thru Pre-K and in many cases bring us siblings. We truly care for whole families.
We also take quality very seriously. We participate in ExceleRate Illinois, a statewide quality recognition and improvement system designed to make continuous quality an everyday priority among early learning providers. And just recently we were chosen by the Metropolitan YWCA to offer an Early Head Start program for children from birth to three in our two Aurora locations. This was especially exciting for us because now we are really able to impact the Aurora Community with quality care.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Joy’s Answer: A business can thrive anywhere, you just need know it’s hard work. You need passion, drive and thick skin ☺. This business was a risk, we didn’t know what was going to happen. Our 1st center in Aurora taught us how to do this…. we didn’t really know how it was all going to go but I knew we could do it.
Daughter’s: Me has nerves of steel and she took the leap. We have never seen her second guess a thing in her life. She truly lives with no regrets. When people ask her when she’s going to stop working, she’ll look them in eye and say “I’ll never stop doing it”
We all can agree; it’s been hard work and sacrifices have been made but when we see where we are now, it’s been worth it and we’ve done it together.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1679 Town Center St
Aurora, IL 60504 - Website: hometownchildcare.com
- Phone: 630-898-HOME
- Email: hometownchildcare@yahoo.com
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