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Winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund - June 10, 2008
Rebecca Whited Honored with $5,000 Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award
June 10, 2008

Pocono Lake, Pennsylvania Resident Wins Cash Award To Provide Free Childcare Services For Low-Income Mothers


(New York, NY, June 10, 2008) Pocono Lake, Pennsylvania resident Rebecca Whited, 35, is one step closer to driving meaningful change in her community and creating a better tomorrow. Rebecca was named this week’s winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund, a weekly $5,000 cash award program from Avon Products, Inc. to support individuals in their work to empower women. She is the fifth Hello Tomorrow Fund winner in Pennsylvania and is among the first to be selected by a newly expanded panel of judges that includes Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, and actress Phylicia Rashad. Rebecca will use her award to support a scholarship program at Mountain View Christian Learning Center that will provide free childcare to mothers for two weeks while they seek permanent employment or until they receive their first paycheck.

Many women in communities like Pocono Lake need childcare for their children before they begin working outside the home in order to undertake the process needed to secure jobs. Low-income, often single mothers may be ineligible for the scarce subsidized childcare in their areas. Without a safe place for their children, it is difficult for mothers to begin a job search and they remain trapped in unemployment and perpetuate the cycle of welfare. If mothers have access to short term free childcare while they looked for employment, the pattern that keeps them from becoming self-supporting individuals and providers for their families could be broken.

Rebecca comes from a family of childcare providers: her mother previously owned a daycare center and her sister currently runs one herself. “It’s in our blood. We’ve been in the business for 17 years,” explains Rebecca. In order to spend more time with her two-year-old daughter and continue her passion of running daycare centers, Rebecca opened the Mountain View Christian Learning Center in March 2007. It is important to Rebecca to also help other women spend time with their kids while they earn a living, so she encourages her employees to bring their small children to work with them.

The free, short term childcare for mothers seeking employment is an extraordinary asset for her clients. Approximately 45 percent of her 52 current clients are low-income families, and this number continues to grow. In addition to providing need-based tuition-free childcare when she can, Rebecca offers women the option of “work for care,” allowing mothers to use free childcare when they need to and work at the Center to “pay” for the services. She also encourages mothers who have found employment as a result of the childcare program to help other women who are in need with support and mentoring.

Unfortunately, Rebecca cannot afford to give free childcare to everyone who needs it. This is where the Hello Tomorrow Fund can help. Rebecca will use her Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund award to provide free childcare scholarships to approximately 24 women and their children for a period of two weeks, or until the mothers receive their first paycheck. Rebecca’s vision offers the women in her community an opportunity to change their lives through employment and financial empowerment. Thanks to her Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund award, Rebecca will help women break the cycle of poverty and create new legacies for themselves and their families.

Rebecca’s winning application to the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund met the criteria of clearly presenting unique and achievable objectives to empower women or girls and ultimately improve society. It was selected from a pool of strong contenders by an expert panel of judges, including personal finance expert, Suze Orman, actress Phylicia Rashad and Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York. “What is unique is the applicant’s ability to build on her first wonderful idea of providing childcare for her own employees,” noted judge Anne Dowling of Rebecca’s proposal. “Her plan will support those women who need a way to find and keep a job while giving them a safe place for their children.”

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