Families on the go get help

Yecart takes some of the pressure off

Friday, Sept. 5, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by GARY SMITH Tracey Proctor opened Yecart Homework Center last fall. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Yecart Homework Center in Waldorf aims to take care of one of the must-dos in a kid’s already busy life.

The before and after school program offers homework tutoring, transportation to and from school, a light breakfast and after-school snack.

Tracey (Yecart spelled backward) Proctor has years of child care experience gathered as a provider on Andrews Air Force Base in Camp Springs.

‘‘I like kids, I like their different attitudes and honesty,” she said. ‘‘Sometimes it is a challenge.”

With the help of her former co-worker, friend and ‘‘business consultant” Tonya Ellis, who owns Edutainment Learning Center in Fort Washington, Proctor put together her business plan and opened Yecart Homework Center in November.

The hard way: Proctor, a Maurice J. McDonough High School graduate, was thrust into child care the hard way.

‘‘I got pregnant in high school,” she said.

Wanting to make a life for herself and her daughter — Tranell Hartwell, 17, is currently a McDonough student — Proctor began working in the care industry and found her calling.

She is already looking toward the future, planning to open an assisted living facility and a teen-centric café.

Right now, the homework center is the focus. With a little more than 10 kids involved in the program, the center can handle up to about 45, Proctor said.

She drives the center’s van to and from six schools dropping off and picking up kids (visiting some of her alma maters, waving to teachers who once taught her — ‘‘I had some great teachers,” she said.)

Then it is back to the center on High Street in Waldorf, where students know that once there they are there to work; there is little time to play.

Fun is what summer camp is for, which Yecart recently wrapped up.

Help from home: Proctor doesn’t go it alone. In addition to Tranell, who has a knack for dealing with kids, Proctor has enlisted the help of her other children. Darrell Hartwell, 13, is usually called upon to do the heavy lifting like taking out the trash, while Proctor’s younger two, Daquon, 7, and D’Asia Johnson, 5, tidy up the center and help out where they can.

‘‘Everybody contributes,” Proctor said.

The center is open from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the mornings and again from 1:30 until closing time at 6:30 p.m.

There is a ‘‘no toys, no electronics” policy, which ensures homework will be completed. Yecart focuses on elementary and some middle school students. And Proctor is embarking on community-based projects, such as food and coat drives.

Sara K. Taylor

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