CHICAGO — The first day of preschool can be upsetting for any toddler, but 14-month-old Eric Stammer was inconsolable.
Until 94-year-old Grace Kruse pulled the sobbing child onto her lap and gave him a few hugs. Soon he was all smiles and playing with other children.
Such individual attention isn't always available at crowded child care centers. That's why a growing number of facilities are recruiting elderly volunteers like Kruse.
Lutheran Home and Services in suburban Arlington Heights has gone a step further. In September it opened a child care center on the premises of its 105-year-old nursing home, where Kruse has lived for nine years.
For years, the home had invited Girl Scout troops, teen volunteers and mothers with toddlers to visit its residents.
"What we learned from this experience was really how much it benefits both groups," said Mary Jo Zeller, community services administrator at Lutheran Home. "We really wanted to take it to the next level."
About 50 children, ages 6 weeks to 5 years, are enrolled in the program. Residents, whom the children address as "grandma" and "grandpa," volunteer a few hours a week to read stories, do arts and crafts projects or hold babies.
The children are taken through the home to meet some of the more frail residents. On Halloween they go from room to room trick-or-treating.
"I sure enjoy it," said Kruse, who taught kindergarten and Sunday school for 40 years but never had children of her own. "Those dear little faces just light up. And when they call you grandma, it just makes you feel so good."
Parents and teachers are happy too. "Our parents say they are already seeing personality changes," Zeller said. "Their children have become more outgoing and confident."
Last year's federal welfare overhaul, which emphasizes getting people back to work, is increasing pressure on the nation's already inadequate child care system. In Illinois, healthy adults must find work after two years and cannot spend more than five years in total on welfare.
Recent court cases, including the conviction of British au pair Louise Woodward in the death of an 8-month-old in her care, have highlighted the problems faced by parents looking for safe, quality child care.
Studies presented at a White House conference on child care in October indicate that the quality of care across the country is often poor and usually mediocre, because of inexperienced and unmotivated workers and staff shortages.
