Longtime daycare owner and director retires in Louisville
Over the years, Hudson has found the key ingredients when working with children.
LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – After 30 years of taking care of children, a Lousiville woman is closing her doors for good.
Bobbie Hudson is what many would call a second mother, nurturer, and caregiver.
Hudson’s Home Daycare Center was the first African-American-owned and licensed in-home daycare in Winston County.
For 30 years, Bobbie Hudson has opened her doors for little hands and feet to come learn, sing, and play.
“After five or six years of doing child care, I decided to become a licensed childcare provider so we took our backyard and we added space and that’s how we got started at Hudson’s Home Daycare center,” said Hudson.
Hudson usually begins her morning at 4:30 a.m. Her babies start at a quarter til six.
She says over the years, she lost count of just how many children she’s watched grow,
“Over 500 plus. I was sorta keeping a count and I sorta stopped so it’s probably close to 1,000. Many are nurses. I have nurse practitioners. I have one scientist, a banker, or maybe more. They all have been very successful,” said Hudson.
Now more than three decades later, Hudson announced she would be closing up shop and heading for retirement.
Many in the community say she has impacted them in more ways than she knows.
“We were very inspired by Mrs. Hudson and since then we have had not only my daughter to go but all of her children to go and everyone that went, they excelled. Mrs. Hudson really did an amazing job with so many children,” said Jerome Warren.
“She has been a foundation for our family through four generations…it is bittersweet that she is retiring because when she tried to give me the letter I told her I didn’t want this. I said did God tell you to pray about that and then we laughed. I could tell she was getting emotional and I had to go back and apologize to her because she has truly served her purpose,” said Toni Nicholson Jackson.
Over the years, Hudson has found the key ingredients when working with children.
“Patience is the main thing. Especially learning how to share and that’s the beginning stage. Patience with them, teaching them to share, and then love, and then everything else falls into place,” said Hudson.
As she sings one last time with her babies, her support system in the community is excited to see her step into her new chapter.
“It is a bittersweet moment that Mrs. Hudson is retiring but I will say she deserves it and she has worked hard. She has dedicated many years of service to a lot of families,” said LaErica Davenport.
“To see her go I cried a thousand times. I am trying not to cry now but definitely going to miss her I wish her the absolute best in her retirement,” said Chastidy Dismuke.
Hudson said she couldn’t have done it without the support from the community and the great helpers she had along the way.
While it will be a little quieter in her home, she is ready to spend time with her family.
