DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – Betty Henderson, also known as “Miss Betty” has been running the Angels of Essence Child Care Centre for 22 years. The business was originally set up in her own home in June of 2000 after her son was born with a chronic heart condition which forced her to stay home and care for him.

During a recent appearance on the Kelly Clarkson Show Henderson explained how her business started. She said, “I became a teenage mom at 17 and the goal was to be a dietician. But that kind of re-arranged those plans and then I had two children later. My son was born with a chronic heart condition and going back into the working world was very challenging. I couldn’t afford it. So I took a six month leave of absence off from work and then I had to research what can I do to stay at home to care for him for myself and babysitting came up. And some 500 kids later, here I am.”

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When asked about the transition to a 24-hour child care center, she said, “Detroit is a blue collar city and so we have a lot of parents that work flexible hours, 12, 14, 16 hour shifts. And so, initially the 6 to 6 became 6 to 11, and then 11 pm to 7 and then Saturdays and Sundays, and then I outgrew my home because there was nowhere for the kids to sleep. Then I moved into another building so that I can expand because I couldn’t tell the parents ‘no.’”

She said, “So I just kind of did what I needed to do…I have a great support system, a great staff. There’s 11 of us. I wear multiple hats. We cook, we clean, I coach, I mentor…I’m ‘mommy’ to all the kids that come through, I’m resources for those parents if they need resources. I do whatever I can do to make their lives easier whether it’s the child or the parent.”

With so many American working during nonstandard times such as in the evenings, overnight, rotating shifts and on the weekends, Henderson’s business is a welcome relief to working parents who would have no other option for child care.

Henderson leased her current building for her child care center in 2010 because of her rapid growth through referrals. It sits on Wyoming Avenue in the Northwest side of Detroit in Wayne County. She told Michigan News Source that her center services families who have children aged six weeks through 12 years old. She said about the families, “My facility focuses on diversity and inclusion of all families.” Henderson said that the area has become more diverse over the past few years that that most of her students are African American and some are bi-racial and Caucasian.

Henderson also discussed the resources that she has available to parents. She said, “I offer a variety of resources from early childhood intervention, utility assistance programs, employment opportunities, housing assistance, and automotive repair assistance. I stay well connected in my community to make sure that my families have the information that they need.”

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When asked about the parents and children that she has helped over the years, Henderson said, “I have assisted moms personally by placing myself in their shoes, understanding that a situation is temporary and offer my assistance to help. One of my parents was involved in a car accident that left her car totaled and she was uninsured. I directed her to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services who offer car replacement or car repair for parents. I then took her to work, brought the baby to daycare, and then took the baby home once mom arrived home from work. (A co worker dropped her off). This took place for about six weeks until her application was approved and she received a voucher to purchase another car.”

During her appearance on the Kelly Clarkson Show, Henderson talked about the families that she helps and their ability to afford the child care that they need. She said, “Right now, the parents get government assistance, and if they can’t pay, don’t worry about it. I’ve been on that end…”

She continued, “They should not have to choose, ‘Do I go to work or do I stay at home? Do I pay for daycare or do I skip meals?’ So I’d rather take that loss because I know if I have their kids, they’re going to eat, they’re gonna be loved on, they’re gonna be nurtured. So I don’t worry about it.”

Henderson’s child care model has clearly been a much needed service for the city, so much so that she needs to expand to offer more child care and more services to the families in her community. So in January of 2021, she purchased a new building that was bought to be able to allow about 50 children in a setting which is three times more than her current capacity.

Then in June of 2021, six months later, something unimaginable happened.

Henderson told Clarkson, “I bought a building and I had all of these wonderful plans and I couldn’t wait to take it back to my staff and the parents and let them know that we’re moving into a building that’s three times the space, and three times the playground space. And someone set it on fire. It was completely destroyed June 28th.”

She went on to say, “We’re rebuilding it brick by brick, tile by tile, My boyfriend is there just doing it all at 24 hours, 7 days a week. So he’s working and I’m down the street teaching, and I’m trying to figure it out. I’ve exhausted every savings account, IRA, 401’s, money’s off life insurance policies, whatever I had to do to still make this dream happen for the kids. Because parents still call every day that they need care, and I’m steady saying, ‘I don’t have any room.’”

Renovations were begun including flooring, signage, exterior painting, inspections and playground renovations which are still left to complete. Insurance has covered a lot of the costs but not all. Henderson says she has exhausted all of her savings to replace new HVAC, drywall, plumbing and the roof. Her appearance on the Kelly Clarkson Show netted the center $20K in donations from the show and Clarkson personally but more is still needed. There is a GoFundMe site set up for help with the the re-building of the center for people who would like to donate money to Miss Betty’s business.

When asked about when she hopes to open the new center, Henderson said, “I hope, I pray, and I anticipate opening the new center April 1st. I have applied for financial assistance with the State of Michigan Child Care Expansion Funds but the release of the funds are unknown. So for now, I do what I can with what I have and what others donate.”

She told Clarkson on the show, “I have to honestly believe that God didn’t bring me this far to fall. So I have to just keep pushing.”

When asked how she named her center “Angels of Essence Child Care Centre,” Henderson responded, “I named the center after my son. He coded many times during his first three open heart surgeries and i kept asking God to send his Angels to grace my son because I couldn’t be there next to him.”

As it turns out, Miss Betty is also a true angel herself.