Merrilee S.

Meet Merrilee

• Comfortable with pets
• Has a car

I have always enjoyed working with children. My first babysitting job was to take my neighbors son to Grand Central Park when I was 14. Ever since then I have been assisting families with meal prep, light housekeeping and childcare. I received my BA in Psychology and while doing so worked as a nanny with one family for three years. My career expanded to a Domestic Violence shelter where I became the Residential and Non Residential Childcare Coordinator. It brought me immense joy to facilitate play and imagination to little ones while they healed from trauma. I have cared for children ranging in ages of 8 months to 8 years old. I worked with some teens while I was a Childcare Coordinator. Part of my work while I was an Americorps VISTA working on food access in a rural county, was to facilitate the involvement of children with the local Read more food cupboard, as well as spark their interest in garden grown vegetables and food source. Since then I have worked with various families and offered small workshops at farmers markets during my time as the owner of a jewelry business a few years ago. I have taught creative classes to a homeschooled teen during which time she created her own curriculum for an independent art class- I helped her to work with unusual materials to create costumes, head pieces, sculptural mobiles and jewelry. At the end of our time together the "final" was for her to direct a photoshoot with a 30 year old model and a 12 year old model and to collaborate with a photographer. Much of the inherent work in our class was to find patience, practice persistence and to cultivate self awareness and female empowerment. No matter what age a young person is, I believe in cultivating spirit, vulnerability, courage and learning through play/play-like activities. I strongly believe in working with a child's innate interests and skill levels while providing stability, reliability and safety. Each child has a story to express and I believe in promoting that sharing.

Trust & safety

Experience