* Photograph by Shane Van Boxtel / Image Studios
A Million Dreamz
Angel Berry is clear in her message that you don’t have to be a user of child care to care about the nation’s child care crisis. But her own connection to the issue is highly personal.
Berry, who says she dreamed of working in child care starting at age 12, once found herself in the challenging position of trying to hold down a job while serving as a single parent to a son on the autism spectrum. He struggled in child care and in school and was kicked out of multiple programs; this, in turn, led Berry to lose jobs. The kindness of a neighbor named Auntie Rosie, who ultimately moved in with the family to help raise the kids, was Berry’s salvation — and inspiration.
Years later, Berry moved to Sheboygan and met her now-husband — “my rock,” she says — and decided it was time to start living her dream of working with kids. She opened an in-home daycare and over the course of a decade gained a deep understanding that she was far from the only parent who struggled to find care that matched her needs.
“There were so many that needed care … at four o’clock in the morning or weekends,” she recalls. “There was just this huge need.”
So in the wake of the pandemic, when child care needs were magnified to an overwhelming degree, Berry teamed up with a friend and former client, Nena Bemis, to create Sheboygan County’s first nonprofit, all-inclusive, 24/7 child care facility: A Million Dreamz, which opened its doors in 2023.
A Million Dreamz already has a waiting list of more than 200, which proves the existence of the problem as it offers a unique solution Berry says is absolutely worth exploring.
“I’m not saying what we’re doing at A Million Dreamz is the solution, but I think [the solution] has to be outside the box. There are so many people in positions to make a difference in the child care industry that are putting all this effort and money into things that are not solving [the problem]. And they have to think outside the box; we have got to do something different.”
Berry is proud that A Million Dreamz is “100% inclusive,” serving children with special needs up to age 17 and following a service model that includes part-time care options.
The organization is still new, and Berry admits there are still plenty of question marks ahead, but her belief in what’s right makes the risk worth taking.
“I was in my house for a decade in slippers, so I think people are watching to see whether or not we’re going to be successful before really getting invested,” she says, adding that the nonprofit model offers two distinct opportunities: to secure funding and to get the broader community involved.
“I think we have to understand that early childhood education is a society issue,” Berry says. “We need to change it from a capitalist model to a service model, because this needs to be something that’s just plain offered to everybody. And we need to all get behind that.”
With 54% of Wisconsin currently deemed a child care desert, Berry’s fans know she is tackling an enormous, arduous and pivotal issue head-on — and showing strength, savvy and courage in the process.
“Angel is dedicated to providing high-quality child care and has dedicated the last five years to achieving this dream,” wrote her nominator, Alyssa DeTroye. “Persevering through adversity and skepticism, Angel has made her dream a reality and serves as an inspiration and a role model.”
