A beloved day care center, which had been operating in the community for over 20 years, was destroyed by a fire on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Parents and kids are now trying to figure out where to go and the day care owner is distraught over losing the business she loved dearly.<\/p>\n
“This is my only income. That’s my livelihood. And I didn’t even get to say bye to my baby,” day care owner Maria Capellan said.<\/p>\n
The last time Capellan was with the children she looked after in her home day care, everything was destroyed.<\/p>\n
She was rushing them out of the fourth-floor apartment through the thick black smoke that charred the hallway walls that her students helped decorate.<\/p>\n
“My student was sitting down at that table doing homework and she started crying when she saw the smoke coming out from that closet,” Capellan said.<\/p>\n
The day care that is a safe-haven for learning and nurturing was turned upside down after a fire broke out on the floor below on Tuesday afternoon.<\/a><\/p>\n After years of creating positive memories, the last memory they’ll have there is firefighters trying to get the children out of the burning building.<\/p>\n “I tell them, he’s our hero, he’s coming to rescue us and he said, ‘Do you have a sticker for them?’ Because when they do something good, I give them stickers,” Capellan said.<\/p>\n Maria has been running the home day care of her building in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx for 23 years.<\/p>\n She initially opened it with a short-term goal in mind.<\/p>\n She was raising her own children and then fell in love with the idea of providing that service to other parents in the community.<\/p>\n “My son is just such a bright kid, so it’s really disheartening; he grew so lovely and developed so well here,” one of the parents said.<\/p>\n As hard as it is for parents to find a good day care, they found one at ‘The Kid’s Room.’<\/p>\n Capellan says it will be hard to rebuild and her license has been deactivated in the meantime.<\/p>\n Now the children have to find somewhere else to go.<\/p>\n “That’s such a reward when you see them reading at 3 and adding, subtracting. And now as I woke up today I’m like, what am I going to do now? What am I going to do now? 23 years. This is my routine. 7:30 to 6. 7:30 to 6. Now it’s all gone,” Capellan said.<\/p>\n * Get Eyewitness News Delivered<\/a> Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News<\/p>\n
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