_________________ FREEPORT _________________
HERALD Also serving Roosevelt
Honoring student achievements
Vario debuts art at Nunzi’s
officials help the homeless
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Vol. 90 No. 5
JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2025
$1.00
Remembering the Pearses and their legacy of service By MoHAMMAD RAFIQ mrafiq@liherald.com
Reine Bethany/Herald
Joysetta and Julius Pearse in 2021, inside the museum renamed for them. The sign behind them denotes the genealogical organization they established.
The Joysetta and Julius Pearse African American Museum of Nassau County stands as a living testament to the visionary leadership of the Pearses, a Freeport couple whose dedication to preserving Black history and empowering their community made a powerful impact. In recognition of their extraordinary contributions, what was then the African American Museum of Nassau County was renamed in their honor in May 2021. For nearly six decades, the Pearses served both Freeport and Greater Nassau County with distinction. Julius made history in 1962 as the first African-American officer in the Freeport Police Department. His early days on the force were fraught with discrimination, yet he endured. “They just gave him a gun, they gave him a shirt that didn’t fit, and the guy at the office wouldn’t look at him in the face,” Anthony Richards, a friend of the Pearses’ and a museum attendant, said. Julius waited until his probation ConTinued on Page 9
Freeport daycare owner rallies for childcare industry By MoHAMMAD RAFIQ mrafiq@liherald.com
Janna Rodriguez, owner of Innovative Daycare Corp. in Freeport, joined hundreds rallying in Albany for Advocacy Day on Tuesday, urging lawmakers to address the pressing needs of New York’s childcare system. The rally, led by the Empire State Campaign for Child Care and held in the New York State Capitol Building, draws childcare providers, parents and advocates to the state capital each year to make their case. This year’s top priority is to secure $1.2 billion in workforce
compensation to support childcare providers and ensure that families can access affordable, quality care. Rodriguez, a lifelong Freeport resident, runs Innovative Daycare, at 67 Centre St., a bilingual home-based childcare facility serving 16 children ages six weeks to 12 years. “Ninety-five percent of our families use the child care assistance plan that New York state provides to be able to support our families, especially those that are most in need,” she said. For years, families were unable to qualify for the assistance plan due to restrictive
i n c o m e l i m i t s. Ro d r i g u e z explained that until October of 2023 a mother with one child could not ear n more than $30,000 a year to qualify — an amount far below the cost of living on Long Island. “Now for a family of two, you can make up to $53,000, so it’s a huge difference,” Rodriguez said. “There were many families, many moms that had two jobs that wouldn’t qualify because they literally made, you know, just $5,000 more a year.” She emphasized that much work still needs to be done to make childcare more accessible. “We need to focus on long-
term investments and not putting Band-Aids on top of the crisis that we have,” she added. As a regional lead for Nassau County in the Empire State Campaign for Child Care, Rodriguez has been at the forefront of lobbying efforts to address the childcare crisis. “Most of the staff are making minimum wage, because
that’s the most that we can afford to provide with all of the costs that come with owning a small business,” she said, sharing that her three employees and three paid interns are currently compensated $16.50 an hour. Childcare centers like Innovative Daycare face significant ConTinued on Page 10