Combining a passion with a community need

Walk into Darnella Warthen’s A New Beginning child care facility in Durham, NC and you’ll quickly see it’s a busy place. Children exude excitement as they play games, assemble puzzles, and listen to stories. With about 30 children, several with special needs, things stay busy. While Darnella and her staff have their hands full, they thrive on balancing the hustle and bustle of managing many children with a shared passion for educating and developing the young. They navigate a hectic environment with poise and love.

Darnella has been a child care professional for 15 years, but it took time to find her dream job. Before opening the facility, she spent three years as a child care administrator for the City of Durham. Despite a steady paycheck, Darnella missed working directly with children. With a master’s degree in special education, Darnella knew there was a need for a day care facility that specialized in special needs care. Combining a passion with a community need, Darnella found her dream.

Darnella opened A New Beginning in June 2008. From day one she had six special needs children. Serving children and families energizes Darnella. You can see it on her face.

“Starting out was a risk,” she says. “This work has a different kind of reward. You just can’t put a monetary value on it.”

The business hit an early snag when a delay in its four-star accreditation negatively impacted state child care reimbursements. Self-Help worked with Darnella to temporarily adjust her monthly loan payments to more manageable amounts.  She says Self-Help’s flexibility kept her in business.

“It gave me the breathing room I needed,” she says. “It saved me.”

Darnella’s close relationships extend beyond the children and into their families. Some of the kids come to her with behavioral, mental, and family issues. Darnella reflected on a particularly disruptive child who struggled each morning at drop-off.

“That child is now here and thriving,” says Darnella, the mother of children ages 27 and 3. “It’s because of the consistency and the relationships we’ve developed not only with him but with his family.”

Now running a business she loves, Darnella is looking toward the future. One major goal is achieving five-star status for A New Beginning.

“Self-Help allowed me to really pursue my dreams,” she says.