September28.2005_____________ Minority & Small Business W eek______________________ Pagc89
Parenthood Becomes Career Opportunity
Business comes after courses, certification
by N icole H tx tP E R
T he P ortland O bserver
Jessie Green decided soon af
ter her daughter Wendy celebrated
her first birthday that it was time
to leave her job as an account
manager and become a full time
m other. U n fo rtu n ately , m ost
families cannot survive off of a
single income. So she used this
opportunity to not only spend
time with her child but to open a
daycare.
Baby Hugs Daycare just cel
ebrated its one-year anniversary.
Putting Jessie’s goal into fruition
was harder than she thought. It
took Green two months to make
Baby Hugs a full-fledged busi
ness. She had to be certified in
CPR, food handling and take
classes on child abuse and early
child development.
W hen caring for children,
Green feels like there is a very thin
line between customer and fam
ily. Baby Hugs is based on the
Christian values she learned as a
family member of Daniels Me
morial Church. She strives to treat
all children like they are her own
with the amount of affection and
attention she gives her own daugh
ter. Most of the children that
attend Baby Hugs have been there
since Green opened.
On the business side, it was a
challenge in the beginning for
Green to find activities to enter
tain children and to keep their
attention. When Green first de
cided to start a day care she
chatted with other people that had
in home day care. Having a day
care in a building has it's own set
of criteria that is very different
than in home care. Green also has
three sisters in laws that also have
/ love my
children, the
kids keep me
young, and
they are
hilarious.
No corporate
job could ever
give me this.
- Jessie Green, Baby Hugs
Daycare owner
in home daycares and acted as
mentors.
“I’d eventually like to use my
home for the sole purpose of an
in home day care or to have a
center of my own," said Green.
Being self-employed definitely
has it’s own perks but there is a
downside. If Green gets sick,
she not only has to lose money
for that day but many parents
have to find alternative childcare
or be forced to stay home.
Each morning Green gets up
at 5:30 a.m. and the first kid
arrives at 6:15 a.m. Most don’t
leave until 5 p.m. that evening.
Finances and running a busi
ness while being a minority and
female have been hard issues for
Green. She can't afford the costs
of hiring a grant writer for grants
that she may not get. Business
loans are also closed off to her
because her business is so new.
This Catch 22 has made Green
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Baby Hugs Daycare owner Jessie Green with some the kids in her charge.
continued
on page BIO
Creating and
Building Wealth
‘T he road to wealth begins with
you,” says Carla J . Cargle, noted finan
cial expert and author of the new book
and companion CD-Roms, The Finan
cial Truth [2005, Wealth Builders Pub
lishing.TX|.
Cargle covers all aspects of effective
money management, including how to
be financially prepared for natural di
sasters, how individuals, couples and
families can take control of their fiscal
health, assess their “financial compat
ibility" and develop their own roadmap
to economic independence.
“This book and interactive program
has been created to help African Ameri
cans develop a positive, healthy and
spiritual relationship with their money,”
Cargle says.
“Money does
not have the
power to do or be
anything until
you attach your
spirit to it. It can’t
make you wealthy
or poor.”
Caria Cargle
The Financial
Truth program consists of three main
sections, including one that addresses
the soul of money, section two that
encompasses an individual's thoughts
and relationship with money, plus a
third section which examines how one
nurtures his or her own personal finan
cial needs, while introducing tools help
ful to building and accumulating finan
cial wealth. All of this accomplished—
with the all-important spiritual connec
tion to money built-in, which distin
guishes this program from all others.
A native of Gary, Indiana, Cargle is
an alumnus of Hampton University,
where she earned a bachelor’s degree
in finance. She has been a practicing
financial advisor for 14 years and is a
registered investment advisor. She is
the author of Humble. Wise and
Wealthy, a spiritually-based personal
finance handbook, and she wrote and
developed the curriculum for the ac
claimed national economic empower
ment program, “Know Your Money”
for the National Urban League.
WALSH
Construction Co.
OREGON • WASHINGTON • CALIFORNIA
Opportuni
Quality people make
powerful partnerships
Kaiser Permanente believes in promoting diversity, not only in our
workforce but also in our business relationships. That’s why we partner
with a diverse pool of suppliers to obtain quality products and services.
These powerful partnerships help us provide the quality care that our
members deserve.
KAISER PERMANENTE»
th r iv e
For more information about our Nationa Suppl er Diversity Program, please visit
o u rW e b s ite a tw w w .k p .o rg /s u p p lie rd iv e rs ity
contact usât 1-877-266-6196.
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest
A d ve rtise with
diversity in
Q 1,1 ^JcttthtUÒ QDbscrtTíT Call
503-288-0033
ads@portlandob server.com