Ana Marie Hernandez worked in male-dominated fields as a chef, a marine, and a union carpenter before opening a daycare out of her home in Wilton.
“It’s very cut to the chase. You do your work, and nobody really bothers you,” she said.
After her son was born, Hernandez realized she did not want to return to a traditional job and found bluntness she appreciated when working with children.
“I would say 90% of the people that are in the business do it because they love children, and, for me, it also allows me to be able to be home with my children,” she said.
Since 2022, Alternative Care of Wilton has provided nontraditional care hours for parents, some who start work as early as 4 a.m., and others who work a more customary 9-to-5 shift.
“Originally, when I did make the daycare, I did want it to be more tailored for people like me that needed early childcare,” she said.
Nearly four years later, Alternative Care of Wilton has received the first childcare home rehabilitation grant for $25,000 from the Monadnock Economic Development Corp. She applied for the grant in January.
Monadnock Economic Development launched the Bring It Home Project as a pilot program — a regional initiative to provide accessible in-home childcare. The project is funded through a tax credit grant.
Between 2017 and 2025, licensed in-home childcare programs declined by 32%, a trend that disproportionately affects families in rural regions with low to moderate incomes, according to the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute.
Bring It Home participants can receive up to $50,000 per household, free licensure consultation, business planning services, and childcare provider training.
“Ana is a great example of what we intended to do with this money,” said Ericka Canales, the organization’s special projects manager.
Hernandez used part of the grant to replace the 45-year-old sliding patio doors in her playroom with energy-efficient ones. In addition, she can add air conditioning to the playroom, install interconnected smoke detectors throughout the house, and replace the kitchen oven and water heater.
Hernandez said those changes would not have been possible without the funding.
“Childcare in general is not a very lucrative career,” she said.
In addition to monetary support, MEDC helped Hernandez expand her daycare from six to 12 slots, which required hiring an assistant. Now, Hernandez has a helping hand that she hopes to promote to full-time in the coming months.
While Hernandez is the first daycare provider to receive the grant, Canales said helping care providers with their licensure and business structure has become a large part of the organization’s work.
“It’s about helping the existing providers where they are,” Canales said.
The pilot program has run into problems throughout the application process. Canales said people who rent their spaces struggle to apply, and communication has broken down between state legislation and municipalities, leading to confusion over zoning and fire codes.
To address that, Canales has worked with multiple in-home daycare providers in Swanzey and Wilmot to break down legislation for them, help them work with their town governments, and apply for separate grants to obtain licensure.
Hernandez’s application has allowed the MEDC team to learn and work through the kinks and has shown Canales that the program works.
“She is the best-case scenario we could have hoped for … and it’s an important milestone for us as proof of concept,” Canales said.