Rochelle Wilcox discovered her path in life during college when she completed work study at the student lab, which was home to the child care center on her campus. It was instant love for the field of taking care of young ones. Heeding the advice of female mentors, she switched from pre-med to childhood development – and never looked back.
In 2003, Rochelle excitedly opened her family child care home in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, with six children under her care. Her initial dream was fulfilled. “I found what feeds my soul,” says Rochelle.
Two years later, powerful Hurricane Katrina devastated the “Crescent City.” Floodwaters from two breaches of the Industrial Canal combined to submerge the city’s entire Lower Ninth Ward, destroying houses, commercial buildings and infrastructure. In one fell swoop, both Rochelle’s home and small business were gone. “Nothing could be salvaged,” laments the New Orleans native.
As Rochelle and her husband Whitman looked for a new apartment for themselves, their two children and a beloved dog, her vision of a child care business remained strong. One day, she recognized that a prospective apartment used to be an early learning center prior to the storm. One bedroom looked like an infant space, while another had been set up as a toddler room. Imagine Rochelle’s surprise when two months later, upon driving up to that same property, Whitman advised that he had pulled money out of his 401(k) to put Rochelle back in business. Stating that he believed in her entrepreneurial spirit, the eponymously named Wilcox Academy of Early Learning opened its doors in 2006. Explains Rochelle, “My business is named after me for two reasons. One, it lends accountability, as families know they can come to me. Second, as a Black woman-owned business, I want to provide inspiration that others in my community can succeed.”
To meet demand, CEO Rochelle later added two more facilities. That translated to her having one center in Central City, another in the Seventh Ward and one on the campus of Southern University at New Orleans in Gentilly. Wilcox Academy’s trio of facilities already serve 260 children, with almost three-quarters attending for free via government subsidies such as Head Start vouchers.
Wilcox Academy’s nascent fourth facility is poised to meet both the community’s unmet demand for child care seats and affordable housing. Research shows that New Orleans needs nearly 7,000 seats of subsidized early child care, plus at 49% higher than the national average, housing eats up a major part of the budget of the city’s residents. The location will be Central City, where two-thirds of residents identify as Black, with many lower income. To be constructed at the corner of Freret Street and Washington Avenue across from A.L. Davis Park, this is where as a child Rochelle whiled away the hours. “The Central City neighborhood is where my heart beats,” states Rochelle (pictured above with former student, Gary).
The power of co-location is exemplified by the latest site of Wilcox Academy. Using New Markets Tax Credits, LIIF offered a $2.75 million, eight-year, low-interest 3.5% loan to construct a new center-based facility co-located with four units of affordable housing. The LIIF loan will be the senior source of funds for the leverage lender to make leverage loans, in a stacked structure, into both Louisiana state New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) and federal NMTC transactions. What makes this project unique is its exclusion of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) — the traditional source of federal funding for affordable housing. The affordable units were created due to the vision of Rochelle, an ECE provider who recognized the need for integrated housing; she has partnered with Alembic Community Development to support this project. The loan’s low-interest rate allows Wilcox Academy to maintain decreased occupancy costs and to benefit from the long-term sustainability of property ownership. That translates to power and agency.
The latest center will offer 148 seats for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old. To qualify for the residential units, applicants must have a household Area Median Income (AMI) of less than 80%. The project also dually supports Rochelle to build a strong balance sheet and Wilcox Academy to create a legacy of quality care for New Orleans’ youngest learners.
LIIF forges strong partnerships to foster co-location efforts. In the case of Wilcox Academy, impact was catalyzed via LIIF’s Brighter Futures Fund (BFF) collaboration with Goldman Sachs, which is supported by their One Million Black Women initiative. Via this innovative Special-Purpose Credit Program (SPCP), LIIF is nimbly deploying $20 million in financing that addresses systemic issues by creating and preserving child care facilities, with a priority to support those co-located with affordable housing. BFF highlights LIIF’s steadfast commitment to addressing the persistent racial and gender inequities plaguing our society. That is why 80% of the providers with whom LIIF works identify as women of color, as opposed to 40% working in the sector. Rochelle is LIIF’s fourth recipient of a BFF loan.
As a national and community leader, Rochelle always looks to give back. She successfully secured funding in NOLA for the next two decades via her advocacy for additional government resources at the local and state levels. Rochelle has even co-founded two nonprofits: the WilReachOne Foundation, which empowers vulnerable families by providing essential services, high-quality ECE and affordable housing development; and For Providers By Providers (4PXP), an advocacy organization supporting Louisiana learning center providers through professional development, wealth-building, business acumen and networking. It’s all about pushing forth a mission of “empowering providers, shaping futures.”
True to her loan’s name, Rochelle sees a brighter future for Wilcox Academy. “This is not just about child care — it’s about the entire family. We cannot educate children without having whole, healthy families. This is not a one-off. I want Wilcox Academy to become a model,” concludes an ever-hopeful Rochelle.
I found what feeds my soul.
Wilcox Academy of Early Learning CEO Rochelle Wilcox