Shirley Mohney has electric blue eyes that smile with happiness when holding hands with the toddlers at Island Kiddie Kampus.
Those eyes crinkle in empathy when parents walk into her office, close the door and cry in frustration because they can no longer afford child care.
The sad scene has repeated itself so many times that Mohney has resolved to help.
Starting this month, she will provide free child care for out-of-work parents while they go to an interview or a job fair. The service is available for kids ages 2 1/2 -5 from 8 a.m.-noon or 1-5 p.m. on Mondays at the Island Kiddie Kampus in Grosse Ile and on Fridays at the Island Kiddie Kampus in Riverview. She will gauge how things go in May and extend the offer into June and beyond if the need is there.
"It's just amazing how it's affecting everybody," says Mohney, 61, of the economy. "If we don't reach out and help, what are they going to do?"
The need for financial flexibility has intensified nationally since last fall, says Linda Smith, executive director of the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies, based in Arlington, Va.
An association survey found that the number of child care centers declined nationally by 34% between fall 2007 and 2008. Mohney says 20 kids have left Kiddie Kampus this past year because of family financial difficulties.
"We are hearing that lots and lots of parents are pulling their kids out of child care," Smith says. "There's not much you can do when parents have to choose between a house and food and child care."
Ann-Marie Brown, 40, of Woodhaven, is not surprised to learn about Mohney's offer of free childcare for job-seekers. She already has taken Mohney up on her generosity.
Just before Christmas, her husband was laid off as a supervisor for an automotive supplier; meanwhile, her work at a catering company dwindled to one day a week.
Brown told Mohney she would need to pull her younger daughter, Morgan, 5, out of preschool to save $200 a month. Mohney's response? "Absolutely not."
So now, Brown and her husband, Jim, pay what they can afford, with the intention of making up the full amount when their situation gets better. And Morgan still gets the lessons that help prepare her for kindergarten.
"She's a very kind and compassionate person," Brown says. "I didn't expect her to say, 'Just bring her, and we'll work something out.' "
Island Kiddie Kampus occupies a 6,200-square-foot brick building on Grosse Ile and another 5,800 square feet in Riverview.
In the morning, kids learn Phonic Soup, a program of letters and sounds and reading. Staffer Debbe Bunch teaches her toddlers Spanish words such as Mayo, or May.