NYCHA’s Newest Food & Childcare Entrepreneurs
Forty-four NYCHA residents and Section 8 participants successfully completed the 2023 Food Business Pathways (FBP) and Childcare Business Pathways (CBP) programs, which provided them with free business education, financial resources, one-on-one coaching, and the resources they need to launch or grow their businesses.
In December, the CBP and FBP graduates were honored at a joint ceremony. These residents are the first cohorts of the programs since their pause at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. NYCHA’s Resident Economic Empowerment and Sustainability (REES) Office, which manages Business Pathways, identified through its annual resident needs survey that food and childcare are the top business industries residents are interested in pursuing. Despite not having private funding, NYCHA recognized the importance of supporting resident entrepreneurs and funded the relaunch of Business Pathways.
“We are grateful to NYCHA leadership, and our business education partners, Business Outreach Center Network (BOCNet) and Open Door LLC., for their support and collaboration on the 2023 relaunch of Food and Childcare Business Pathways,” said NYCHA’s Senior Director of Resident Initiatives Shanna Castillo. “The level of dedication, entrepreneurial spirit, and community focus of FBP and CBP graduates has been so encouraging, and we look forward to continuing to support them as they take additional steps to launch and grow their food and home-based childcare businesses.”
Since the launch of Food Business Pathways in 2015 and Childcare Business Pathways in 2016, 394 residents have been empowered to launch and grow their own food or home-based childcare businesses.
Latimer Gardens resident Xiafei Lin is one of the 21 CBP graduates. She learned about the program from the REES e-newsletter. She used to work with children and thought the program would be a great opportunity for her. “Right now, I’m in the process of setting my home-based childcare business up,” Ms. Lin said. “I’m going to call it Spring Kids Family Daycare and my age range will be 6 weeks to 12 years old. The CBP program helped me develop a strong foundation in childcare business operations, which is valuable and preparing me for a career in this field.”
Ms. Lin came to the United States from China in 2016 and is the mother of a 5-year-old boy. In addition to the knowledge she gained from the program, she appreciated how nice and caring the instructors of the programs were. “I just feel really grateful to NYCHA and the whole American government for this opportunity,” Ms. Lin said.
Betsy Cespedes is one of the 23 FBP graduates. She is a Manhattan Section 8 resident, a mother of three, and a school social worker with a master’s degree in criminal justice with a concentration in juvenile justice. She’s ready to follow her dreams to open her own food business.
“It’s a vision I want to bring to life, to follow in my grandmother’s footsteps,” Ms. Cespedes said. “She had her own business and always wanted me to follow her footsteps. She knew I had the drive to be independent and help the community through food, love, and quality service. She owned two restaurants in Manhattan.”
Ms. Cespedes has cooked for family and friends and catered events. She wants to launch United Juice Bar and Grill to serve food and beverages rooted in her Dominican Republic culture. She plans on serving lots of healthy juices, seasonal beverages, herbal teas, and pastelitos. Ms. Cespedes’ said her overarching goal is to “support closing the gap in the poor health in our community while promoting wellness and the importance of a joyous community. I want people to know that just because it’s healthier doesn’t mean it tastes bad.”
She feels prepared to open her business in the next year or two with the knowledge gained in FBP and the continued support the program provides to its alumni. “One major aspect I learned is that you have to know, collect, and analyze your data. Even if you’re dealing with recipes, you need to know how you’re going to spend your money when you’re shopping for products. Once you have a great understanding of your numbers, it will provide you with the information you need to plan the next actionable item while minimizing cost and increasing profitability.”
To learn more about the Childcare and Food Business Pathways programs, visit the following webpages: