About Our Coop

We believe in going beyond basic to help your children thrive.

If you have children, there are times when you need child care. Basic care means keeping your children safe, but your children deserve more. At Beyond Care, we believe in safety and stimulation, love and learning, as well as cleanliness and creativity.

Beyond Care Childcare Cooperative was launched in Sunset Park, Brooklyn in June 2008. With the support of the Center for Family Life (CFL), 17 immigrant women and founding members came together to conceptualize, plan and launch a membership cooperative business. The business plan was based on models of immigrant owned cooperatives (particularly in Long Island and Oakland, CA) that have been successful in helping immigrant men and women increase income, build internal leadership and provide mutual support.

The cooperative is designed to promote living wage jobs that will be done in a safe and healthy environment, as well as to provide social supports and educational opportunities for our members. We now have 38 cooperative members who have completed business development and nanny training through our respective probationary periods.

Beyond Care Childcare Cooperative receives support and guidance from the Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, a nonprofit community-based organization providing social services for children, youth and families in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, since 1978.

Our Qualifications

All members have completed a rigorous 8-week training, upon becoming members.
On-going workshops and trainings are conducted throughout the year, and it is mandatory that all members attend.
Some of our curriculum include the following:

CPR Training

Taught by certified FDNY EMS personnel, this program equips members to act in the event of cardiac arrest.

Child Development

Classes taught by the Sunset Park Head Start teachers and directors.

Active Learning

Using music, dance, and cooking as a forms of play with children; along with having a structured day with children.

Safe Environment

Providing safety checks and ensuring safety in the home; Knowing how to deal with an emergency.

Detection + Awareness

Conducted by Challenge Infant Development, this program teaches how to detect special needs within the spectrum of child development. There are also child abuse and neglect awareness training by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Health + Nutrition

The Parenting Journey through Center for Family Life conducts the Health & Nutrition Program through Cornell University Cooperative Extension.

Nanny Courses

A 4-wk training program by the Cooperative Extension Program at Cornell University which was sponsored by the Domestic Workers United.

Art, Music, Dance

Art specialists at the Center for Family Life conduct workshops on music: rhymes and lullabies for children ages 0-3; creating various arts projects with children ages 4-8; and yoga and dancing exercises with children ages 3-9.

We Learn to Run Our Business Together, Successfully

We promote personal growth and educational opportunities.
We promote living wage jobs in a safe and healthy working environment.
Our core values are solidarity, respect, and professionalism.
Beyond Care Childcare Cooperative was founded on the basis of democracy, equality and justice.

Training Coursework:

"In developing their cooperative, members were resolute about wanting to offer holistic, loving and progressive child care, not mere babysitting. Beyond Care offers competitive rates for services administered by trained child care professionals who have been reviewed and cleared through the New York State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment."

By Line Waiters Gazette Published By Park Slope Food Coop

BROOKLYN, NY

"Beyond Care is a part of the emergent Solidarity Economy Network, a group of socially responsible businesses, non-profits, and cooperatives that collaborate with one another—at local, regional, and national levels—to create a more just economy. Beyond Care also receives very real benefits from its involvement in the solidarity economy movement."

By Yes! Magazine

Beyond Care Childcare Cooperative was named "Best babysitting agencies in NYC"

By Timeout Kids Magazine

New York City