City officials help celebrate opening of new Mission District childcare center

Mission Neighborhood Centers celebrated the opening of its 12th early childcare center Thursday morning with the support of community organizers and city officials.

The new MNC Mission center is located at 1954 Mission St. on the site of La Fénix housing development and will serve 42 children and families with a number of educational services. The new center consists of a preschool, two toddler classrooms and one infant classroom.

At the event, Mission Neighborhood Centers CEO Richard Ybarra, said ensuring children and families have opportunities for affordable early childcare will help grow The City’s economy:

“We have an opportunity to make San Francisco more equitable and supportive for women and their children. We’re working to make sure that women have employment opportunities that can get them on the path to fulfilling careers and more families can access high quality, affordable childcare so their kids are taken care of and parents can return to work.”

Ybarra also thanked Mayor London Breed for including the Women and Families First Initiative in her proposed budget. If passed, the initiative will provide approximately 800 children in The City with early childcare tuition credits with providers who are part of The City’s network.

Breed said at the ribbon cutting event:

“We understand the need and the value of having quality preschool in San Francisco. We understand the need to make a significant investment in being able to hire teachers and educators and support here at locations like this. We also understand the need for it to feel like a family because our children are our most precious, precious commodity.”

Ybarra said he hopes to invite the mayor back to future ribbon cuttings when new centers are opened on Valencia and in the Bayview District.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.