Former lounge now a nursery

Nonprofit nurtures small business owners

Thursday, June 21, 2007
By Lynne Jensen

As the city continues to morph post-Katrina, some of its buildings are changing identities. Walk into 7979 Earhart Blvd. and gone are the dozen familiar pool tables. The bar remains, but instead of beer bottles it's filled with pint-size knapsacks.

The former nightclub for adults has become Tommye's Tiny Tots 2, a second child-care facility in New Orleans for owner Tommye Lambert.

Lambert was able to increase her ability to care for children with help from The Idea Village, a New Orleans nonprofit that nurtures small businesses with grants, mentoring and other

Lambert and nine other small business owners took part in The Idea Village child care program, sponsored by Entergy Charitable Foundation. The foundation's donation enabled Idea Village to partner with Tulane University 's A.B. Freeman School of Business and the Tulane School of Social Work to create sustainable business models for 10 child care entrepreneurs through a combination of marketing and brand development, cash flow analysis, technology training and personal development plans.

"I'm concerned about the educational system in Louisiana," Lambert said, sitting on a child-size chair at her Earhart facility, explaining learning activities that take place there. "No child should be without the basics."

Lambert, 50, is a Wisconsin native who came to New Orleans in 1977. She served in the Navy for 22 years and is an ordained elder, a licensed nurse and CPR instructor. Having operated a child-care facility in Mid-City for 10 years, Lambert said she recognizes more than ever the need for good child care since Katrina.

"A lot of babies are stressed because their parents are stressed," she said. "I don't like to hear babies crying. You need to identify what's wrong."

All was quiet recently as the children finished lunch, then curled up on their mats for nap time.

Painted in soft colors with flowered curtains made by her 80-year-old mother, Christine Anderson, Lambert's Earhart facility is a peaceful place, filled with new child-size furniture. It's important for parents to know that their children have a familiar place to play, learn and feel loved, Lambert said.

Patty Riddlebarger, director of social responsibility for the Entergy Charitable Foundation, said that her organization wanted to focus on early child care while helping out small businesses.

The need for child care post-Katrina is "just humongous," Riddlebarger said. "It has not received a great deal of attention. . . and it is an economic development issue."

Tim Williamson, president of The Idea Village said that child-care entrepreneurs such as Lambert are critical to building a strong community and a catalyst to revitalizing New Orleans after Katrina.

Organizations that provided support to Lambert as she opened her new facility include Save the Children, which donated learning materials, and Community Playthings, which furnished the new center. The Baptist Theological Seminary's Mission Lab provided volunteers to prepare classrooms and the outdoor play area, and Bailey's Home Repair worked on code-required renovations.

Lambert said she's received a great deal of help from the building's owner, Tim Norton, who owns several properties in the area.

Norton said he is helping Lambert "the neighborhood and our kids."

Lambert said she is grateful that much hard work is bearing fruit.

"I put forth the effort to take that leap of faith and the rest of it all fell into place," Lambert said.