PageAI3
September 23, 2009
Child Care Business Also a Ministry
Owner follows
her calling
bv A manda G rear
T he P ortland O bserver
D o yo u th in k y o u r s o n ’s a
prince? O r your daughter a prin­
cess? M ost parents do. And like
most parents you probably want
them to be treated as such.
In that case, if you are in the
market for quality child care for
the heir to your throne, look no
further than K in g’s Kids C hild
Care Ministry. The local childcare
provider could be the perfect little
kingdom for you and yo u rfh ild .
O w ner and D irector Sherrena
Torrence em barked on her busi­
ness 10 years ago.
“O pening a m inistry to serve
children and their families was a
calling from the Lord,” Torrence
said.
At the time she had an 18-month-
old son and wanted to spend more
time with him. She figured she could
provide him and other children a
safe learning environment, and as a
plus, it would allow her to be home
with her son.
There are innumerous child care
facilities out there, so what sets
King’s Kids apart from all the oth-
photo by A manda G rear /T he P ortland O bserver
ers?
"As a certified family childcare
provider, 1 have the best of both
worlds; a professional setting with
a family atmosphere,” she said.
Torrence said that the aim of her
child care business is to give par­
ents a peace of mind, knowing that
their children are in a safe, clean,
loving, Christian-leaming environ­
ment.
So, do kids learn any better or dif­
fe re n tly in th is e n v iro n m e n t?
Torrence would say yes.
“1 believe that children learn best
by play and exploration,” she ex­
plained. “We go off of the child’s
lead. So if they are interested in
[something], we take that and de­
velop it.”
“Because children are unique, we
attempt to tap into their individual
learning styles and gifting and cre­
ate an environm ent for them to
flourish," Torrence continued.
Children fully participated in a
recent graduation cerem ony for
one of their fellow classmates who
was forging ahead to grade school
with dreams of becoming a robot­
ics engineer.
In addition to her 10 years pro­
fessional experience, Torrence has
over a year's experience as a di-
continued'y^ on page A15
Sherrena Torrence sees her certified childcare business as a ministry to serve children.
Minority Entrepreneurs Celebrate
Annual conference
spotlights recent
achievements
The B usiness D iversity Institute, a train­
ing institute for contractors, w ill celebrate
the achievem ents o f m inority entrepreneurs
and business leaders during the M inority
E n te rp rise D e v e lo p m e n t (M E D ) W eek
Aw ards C onference at the O regon C o n ­
vention C enter on W ednesday, Sept. 30,
from 8:30 a.m . to 4:00 p.m.
T h is y e a r ’s e v e n t — “ E n e rg iz in g the
A m erican Econom y w ith M inority B usi­
ness E nterprises”— will provide in fo rm a­
tive educational w orkshops and business
netw orking opportunities to help m inority
sm all businesses leverage and grow their
b u sin esses to w e ath er the cu rren t e c o ­
nom ic clim ate.
M inority businesses that attend will b e­
com e m ore innovative and com petitive in
the federal and com m ercial m arkets. The
m orning w orkshops will be follow ed by an
aw ards luncheon and reverse vendor net­
working.
The cost is $85 a person or $650 for a
table o f 10.
For more inform ation, visit the institute’s
W ebsite at b d iw eb .o rg .
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