WESTLAKE : Delay in Day-Care Contract Protested

A group of angry women gathered last week to protest a contract dispute between a low-income housing project and the day-care provider that was supposed to be its cornerstone.

Casa Loma, a 110-unit housing project created primarily for single Latinas, and Centro de Ninos, a 20-year-old day-care provider, cannot agree on a lease contract.

Centro de Ninos was located on the site of Casa Loma and was expected to move into the first floor of the project after it was completed six months ago. But a dispute over how many children the facility will accommodate, and who should be accepted first, has stalled negotiations.

“The best thing about the (housing project) is day care,” said Margarita Zavala, 28, a single mother of two who lives in Casa Loma. “That’s why I came here, and now I can’t work or study because I have no child care.”

Centro de Ninos, a nonprofit, state-funded group, accommodates 39 children, mostly from the Downtown area, in its temporary location in a former office building on Loma Drive, a block from the housing project. Casa Loma would like the day-care provider to take in 100 children, mainly from the project, but Centro de Ninos has said that it cannot afford that many. Furthermore, there is a waiting list, and children from Casa Loma would be put at the bottom.

“Why should children (from Casa Loma) enter first?” said Alexandra Escorcia, 21, whose 5-year-old is cared for by the center. “My son is in kindergarten, and he always asks me, ‘Mom, why can’t I go into my new school?’ They should let (our) kids in while they negotiate. It was promised to us from the beginning.”

The two groups had initially discussed a 30-year lease, but Casa Loma is instead offering a three-year lease at $1,800 a month, citing Centro de Ninos’ dependence on dwindling state funds.