In recognition of this year’s upcoming National Child Care Providers Day on May 9, members of the American Association of University Women of Port Townsend recently visited licensed in-home child care providers in Jefferson County to express their appreciation. 

“There are only five such providers in all of East Jefferson County,” said Katharine Donnelly on behalf of AAUW Port Townsend. “Running a daycare is hard work, and a vital service to families and the community. High-quality child care enables parents to go to work and maintain or continue their careers, knowing that their children are safe, happy and developing the skills they need to get a successful start in school.”

Tina Bainbridge runs Tina’s Home Daycare in Port Hadlock. She’s been providing child care for 30 years, and is currently working with 12 children.

“I started my own daycare because I had two children of my own in daycare,” Bainbridge said. “I was basically working to pay for daycare, so I decided to start my own. I love working with children, and watching them develop.”

Loretta Bissen runs Bright Start Childcare Daycare in Port Townsend. She’s been providing child care for the past four years and is currently working with five children.

“I worked at a center and another in-home before,” Bissen said. “I started for a lot of reasons, but the first was to be home with my own kids as much as I can. The second was to help the community, since we don’t have many options for childcare in this county.”

Bissen added that “I also love working with kids,” because “children always remind me to enjoy the little things. They bring a lot of excitement and happiness to each day. Watching them learn and grow is pretty amazing.”

Over time, Bissen said, “The children become family, so we all look forward to seeing each other every day. It’s really just a lot of fun.”

Mallori Cossell runs Dragonfly Daycare in Port Hadlock. She’s been providing child care for 12 years, and is currently working with 12 children.

“The job is fast-paced, fun, loud, messy and adorable,” said Cossell, who not only loves working with kids but was also voted the Jefferson County Reader’s Choice Award for Best Daycare in 2022, and received a Certificate of Appreciation from AAUW-PT in 2024.

Lorie Fields runs Lorie’s Daycare in Port Townsend. She’s been providing in-home licensed child care for 41 years and is currently working with eight kids.

Fields has cared for so many children, “I couldn’t count” them all, but she did note that “I have had second generations come through” her in-home child care.

“I started doing child care when my sister-in-law’s child care was closed for Christmas break, and she needed child care for the two-week closure,” said Fields, who took care of other parents’ children from the same childcare at that time. “After the two weeks were up, they went back to their child care, but I realized I enjoyed it. I was a stay-at-home mom, with two children of my own.”

Fields has continued since because of the children, families and “need in our community,” and she enjoys “seeing how each child has their own personality and creativity,” as she watches them “grow, play, and make friends. I love it when children and parents greet me with hugs at football games, stores, parks or other events.”

Fields won the Jefferson County Reader’s Choice Award for Best Daycare in 2024, and has also received a Certificate of Appreciation from AAUW-PT.

Fields is an Early Achievers provider to improve children’s readiness and overall development, and a participant in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Child and Adult Care Food Program which pays providers for nutritious meals served to children while in their care at no cost to the families.

Janet Nolan runs Helping Hands Childcare in Port Townsend. She’s been providing child care for 30 years, and is currently working with eight children.

Nolan estimates that she’s probably worked with more than 200 kids over the years, and she also spoke about how she loves spending time with children.

“I was a nanny before I started doing child care,” Nolan said. “When I had my own kids, I wanted to be able to stay home with them, and not miss out on their growing up, so I started doing child care.”

When Nolan’s children started school she was able to devote more time to her child care business, and she developed a preschool curriculum. She became a licensed provider in 1997.

Nolan is an Early Achievers provider, and also received a Certificate of Appreciation from AAUW-PT in 2024.