VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — In the wee hours of the morning, Master-at-Arms 1st Class Imani Solomon pulls on her Navy uniform, loads her 5-year-old son Isaiah’s stuffed backpack into the car, and heads back upstairs to gather her still-sleeping son.
The sky is still dark as she gently buckles Isaiah into the car. Most days, it’s around 3 a.m. when they arrive at the 24-hour child development center here at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, where Isaiah will grab a few more hours of sleep while his mother heads in to work.
After they’re let inside, Solomon tucks Isaiah into his designated bed alongside his stuffed toy and unpacks his clothes for the day into a nearby cubby.
“Then I give him a kiss … go to the front desk, sign him in, and I’m off for the day,” Solomon said. “He does all his waking up at the center.”
The Little Creek-Fort Story facility is one of eight military child development centers that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to help troops whose odd hours and unpredictable schedules rule out the option of relying on traditional day cares. Seven are operated by the Navy; the Army has one.