Bright Beginnings: The Center for Children may be closing

Carolyn Wilson has been working with children with disabilities and special needs for over 31 years.

“I just love them,” she said as she helped a toddler find a chair for snack time. “These are God’s children.”

Carolyn is one of four full-time and two part-time employees that work at Bright Beginnings, one of only five daycare centers in South Carolina that is specially designed for children that are served by the South Carolina Department of Disability and Special Needs. The facility on Carolina Avenue was recently informed it would have to close its doors on Jan. 1, 2009, due to massive cuts in the state budget.

But they don’t intend to do so without a fight.

“We need to save this daycare for the children and their parents,” said Director Sue Woodham. “These children could not possibly go to a traditional day care setting with their special needs, and their families depend on us so that they can stay in the work force.”

Bright Beginnings currently has 18 children that range in age from 19 months to four years of age. The children have varying disabilities that include autism, hydroencephaly, seizure disorders, and Down syndrome. “Children are being born with disabilities to young mothers that we’ve never seen before,” said Woodham. “In the past, usually only older mothers had children with Down syndrome, but now we have babies born to young women in their early 20’s with it.”

Bright Beginnings has a very full day, providing transportation by bus to and from the center to children from their homes all over Darlington County, including Harts-ville, Lamar, Society Hill and Darlington. The children are provided breakfast, lunch and snacks, many of which are specially prepared for children that have issues that affect their chewing and swallowing.

Through all the challenges with the children including delays in motor skills that affect everything from eating to toileting, the well-trained staff works with the children in a preschool setting. The children graduate from the program “ready to sit and learn” in a school setting which is a tremendous endeavor. All of the workers take turns with the children, so that every staff member knows each individual child rather than being paired with a certain child. Some children with mild delays transition into mainstream classrooms, while others remain in specialized programs designed for their individual needs.
If you would like to help with this effort to save Bright Beginnings, you may call the Darlington County Disability and Special Needs Board at (843) 383-6040 or (843) 332-7252.