I agree with others, start with a small group or in-home child care center, then move up. As a minority in several areas you more likely than not would qualify for several grants, however it is much easier to get grants to expand a successful buisness than to get start up grants. I know one individual who qualified for a $500,000 grant because she was a single mother. However, she started from an in home child care, then moved to a facility licensed for 27 children, and now is building a full-scale child care center--it has taken her 15 years to work up to that. Her website is:
http://www.freewebs.com/tjstots/
I have a similar dream, to have a center that is open extended hours and serving children with special needs, my current plan is to buy a forclosed home & start a small family group home (12-16 children), perhaps repeat this process in several different areas until I have a series of 4-6 small family group homes, and then apply for a grant to build a facility that will provide full-time care for up to 115 children, act as community action center (providing access to resources for high-risk families) and be a central location to provide training for the staff from the family group homes (and possibly staff from other child care centers, privately run family child care homes, etc). This way I can provide both in-home and center-based care, based on the family's location and individual needs, as well as addressing several of the community's ongoing needs. I estimate moving to the point where I can have a full scale center will take about 10 years, I have already spent 5 years getting a college degree, extensive child development & buisness management training, and experience working in nearly every licensed center and many of the unlicensed preschools in the county.
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