For 32 years, Olive McSweeney Sheehan has run a family child care center out of her Brighton home. She loves the work she does, but she faces a stark financial reality.
Her weekly budget for milk, bread, fruit and vegetables for the six toddlers and infants in her care at Over the Rainbow Family Childcare has doubled in the last few years. She says her utility bills have increased between $200 to $300 a month. And now, rising property taxes threaten to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
“I’ve been doing this a long time and I’m sick of struggling, to be honest,” she said. “Like, when does it stop?”…