Fifteen years ago, after her daughter was born, Karen Messner started her childcare business in an apartment building along Cully Boulevard. After several years, she moved to a house near Sacajawea Head Start, which allowed her to provide childcare for fifteen children. Since Karen lived nearby, she worked with Sacajawea, Harvey Scott Elementary, and Rigler Elementary schools. As an added benefit to her childcare services, she provides drop-off and pick-up services for kids who attend those schools. As Karen puts it, “We’ve just been growing step-by-step.” Fast forward to today, and she runs three locations. “One [location] is for infants ages zero to three, another [location] is for preschool and school-aged children, and the third location is just for school-aged kids.”

Karen mentions that her daycares serve a diverse group of children, and parents can drop their children off as early as 5:00 am. The fact that Los Pequeñitos is a Spanish language immersion school reflects that diversity. Part of the reason behind Spanish immersion is “for the kids who speak Spanish at home, to [be able to] keep their language and not forget Spanish when they grow up.” Karen points out that white and African American families also take advantage of the program, so their children can learn Spanish. On top of their quality services, Los Pequeñitos is committed to providing affordable childcare to families in need. Los Pequeñitos participates in several programs to help families with the cost of childcare, including Employment Related Day Care, Baby Promise and Preschool Promise, and the Community Childcare Initiative program. They have also applied to participate in Preschool for All through Multnomah County. This commitment to providing affordable childcare in Cully led Karen to seek out a larger space where she could expand her business.