ROCHESTER — A long-standing tenet of unionism is the belief that if those who are more fortunate reach out to help others who are struggling, they can lift them up and improve lives.
Miriam Rodriguez, a CSEA/VOICE Local 100A member in Rochester, has taken this idea to a different level.
Contract boosts quality care for children
For more than 20 years, Rodriguez has worked hard as a child care provider, building a good reputation and a strong base of parents who trust her with the early learning and care of their children.
Since family child care providers joined CSEA in 2007, she has had access to resources and training through her union that she never had before.
Rodriguez took every training opportunity available through her labor contract, including the Tuition Assistance Program and Childcare Development Associate Credential (CDA) Scholarship Program.
“I learned so much in all the trainings and in getting my CDA.
I was able to take what I learned and apply it here in the daycare,” Rodriguez said. “I have been able to do so much for my families [of children in my care].”
Rodriguez’s families directly benefited from her union membership, ensuring a high-quality educational foundation for the often-disadvantaged children in her care. She became a sought-after provider in her profession and duly respected in her community.
Her growth as an educator is only unmatched by her passion for our union and helping struggling families, changing the path of disadvantaged children who would not have had access to her quality of learning and care.
Rodriguez became politically active in Monroe County, tirelessly advocating for access to affordable child care for low-income families.
Lifting her community
In 2015, with her small business now booming, Rodriguez was ready to reach out and lift others, thinking long and hard about the best way to do that. She became a beacon of light in her community.
Rodriguez bought a house in a neighborhood in the heart of Rochester struggling with drugs and gangs. She dropped herself right in the thick of it, armed with her training, reputation, confidence to make it work and her proven ability to make a difference.
A fence along the side of the house was covered in graffiti art, including images of gang insignias and explicit content. Rodriguez recognized the art and knew of the man who painted the fence from his other work throughout the city.
“He is very talented,” she said. “I didn’t want him to feel like he was going to be erased from the neighborhood. His art is his expression. I thought if I were to help heal this community, we could help him, too. Everyone has promise of a new start. Sometimes, it takes an act of kindness.”
Rodriguez offered the artist $500 to repaint the fence, asking him to replace the explicit images with something appropriate for the kids. She spoke with him about the needs of the children in their community and why she decided to buy that home. She said she wanted to give him a stake in this new daycare.
He took the job, painting the fence full of colorful images of children playing outdoors. He has been seen moving illicit activity off the block, and he has told her that he is protecting the children.
The chain reaction started with a tenet of unionism. The resources that her union provided gave Rodriguez the means to pay it forward, reach out and lift up those next to her who were struggling.
Our union was able to open the door for Miriam Rodriguez to act on the light in her heart and make profound difference for the children and the families in her community.
“I couldn’t have done this without my union,” she said.
— Jill Asencio
