CINCINNATI — It's been a long time coming for the Avondale Respite Center, an urgent day care center that offers free resources to children and caregivers in Avondale and surrounding neighborhoods.
Holly Jenkins-Livers, president and CEO of the center, has been working with youth closely for over 35 years. She said the center's September opening has been three years in the making, after several community discussions and focus groups to find resources for Avondale families.
"It feels good when you wake up in the morning and definitely feels good when you go to bed at night that you've helped someone," Jenkins-Livers said.
WATCH: We visited the new facility to learn how it will connect families with critical support services
The center serves newborns to 12-year-old children.
We spoke with Julietta Ladipo, who will be working at the center. She plans to take advantage of the parent resources available.
"I'm a working hard mom, and I want to have a little bit of a break sometimes, and yeah, sometimes I also need to utilize different supports that are available to me locally," Ladipo said.
Her passion for advocacy stems from her own need for support, advocating for family and maternal health in Avondale for the past eight years.
"My partner and I were just two parents trying to make it happen on our own, and we found a lot of support here in Avondale through different programs," Ladipo said.
This center also hits close to home for Jenkins-Livers.
"I didn't have an Avondale Respite Center in my life," Jenkins-Livers said.
She said she and other staff will provide literacy, lactation and computer classes to families.
The center is also in partnership with Cincinnati Children's Hospital, which will provide a mobile trauma unit along with Job and Family Services to track abuse and neglect cases to see how they are affecting the community.
"This is strictly to help lessen child abuse, neglect and also support parents so those things don't happen," said Jenkins-Livers.
