Inspired to "Pay It Forward," New Port Richey center offers free day care for jobless parents to seek work

NEW PORT RICHEY — Over the course of the summer, Little Achievers Preschool has lost 12 kids because their parents lost their jobs.

When parents are home unemployed, they often don't need and can't afford child care anymore, said the owner, Jennifer Chiger. But they also can't bring their children with them to job interviews.

So Chiger is offering to watch them for free.

Her preschool behind the Westminster Presbyterian Church on U.S. 19, which enrolls about 60 kids from 6 weeks to school age, is offering four hours of free child care on two Monday mornings this month so that unemployed parents who need to go out looking for a job can have that time to do so.

All Chiger asks is that the parents promise to do a good deed in the next year.

"I'm off doing a good thing," she said. "I just hope, in return, they'll follow through and do a good deed for somebody."

She calls it "Pay It Forward." The concept was popularized by the 2000 book and film of the same name. But more specifically, Chiger's inspiration was Debbie Mohelnitzky, who started the program in March at her child care center, Alphabet Soup, in Wausau, Wis.

Mohelnitzky got the idea when a father came to her saying he would have to withdraw his son because he had lost his job. She told him no: She would care for the boy while he went out job hunting.

"I thought, if this is happening to him, it's got to be happening to a lot of people in our area," Mohelnitzky said.

So she took her available spots and opened them up for free. Fourteen families signed up.

"I wanted it to be contagious," she said. "I wanted other people to reach out and say, 'how can we help other people when they need it?' "

And it did spread. Mohelnitzky has been contacted by day care owners in seven states asking how they can do the same. One of them was Chiger, who read about Mohelnitzky in Woman's Day and hopes to have a similar effect in New Port Richey.

Her offer is available on Monday and July 27, but spaces are limited and must be scheduled in advance. Chiger said she limited it to two days so she can make sure she is properly staffed, but she would like to offer more dates if the program is successful.

"My philosophy is, we have to have the staff anyway," said Chiger, who is 34 and has two young boys of her own. "We might as well be able to help somebody else, too."

Only two families, with a total of four kids, have signed up so far, but Chiger said she expects more as the dates get closer.

Needing child care is a common concern among people who visit Career Central, a nonprofit agency that helps people on welfare find jobs, said Ken Russ, the organization's interim director. There are services available, he said, but not everyone qualifies.

The Early Learning Coalition of Pasco and Hernando Counties helps only working parents pay for child care, which is why its director, Jim Farrelly, is glad to see Chiger stepping in to help the unemployed.

"It's not part of our mission, but we recognize the needs of so many people to have child care while looking for a job," he said. "I think it's a wonderful, community-minded idea. It's something that absolutely serves the needs of families."

Isaac Arnsdorf can be reached at iarnsdorf@sptimes.com or (727) 869-6232.