Britt Riley is the co-founder of The Haven Collection Inc., a fully licensed day care offering flexible child care, unlimited workspace and fitness to all member families. The Haven Collection currently has locations in Middletown and Gladstone, N.J. The company is attempting to disrupt the child care industry by offering a complete and holistic approach to meeting the needs of each member of the family. Riley spoke with PBN about the endeavor.
PBN: Why did you establish The Haven Collection?
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RILEY: I had our daughters. I had the idea for Haven when my eldest daughter was 1 and our second daughter was an infant. It was an idea that I had been thinking of for a while but once I had Zoe, it became very clear that the child care industry has never been innovated within and has never truly evolved as it should have with the rest of the world over the past 30 years.
I knew at the time that I needed our solution and had done enough research to see that hundreds of thousands of parents, if not more, also desperately needed this combined solution for their own family’s care. It was one of those moments where, if you never doubt the idea you have, and it keeps you up at night, you keep going. So, I have always kept going, without a doubt that this is the future of the child care industry and that this is the right forward movement for the workforce, families and our next generation.
PBN: How is the experience as a member of Haven different from the experience in other child care centers?
RILEY: Haven’s member experience is far removed from the typical day care or preschool experience. Our member families are all catered to through our unique mix of on-site offerings, which include a variety of workspaces ranging from private spaces to shared workspaces, and additionally our inclusion of a gym for parents to get a workout in as they are working after drop-off or before pickup.
Our goal is to bring unique communities of people who are supportive of one another together through providing a one-stop location for them to achieve their most important daily responsibilities.
PBN: How many members do you have?
RILEY: We have hundreds of families using our services and are looking forward to bringing it to as many more as we can over the coming years.
PBN: What do you think are some of the main challenges for parents looking for sustainable child care options?
RILEY: The biggest challenge to the child care industry, which directly affects parents, is a workforce shortage. Without strong public-private partnerships to help offset parents’ costs, child care becomes prohibitive for many due to the rising cost of wages to the child care providers. This is a challenge that no one company can fix on its own, but it is one of the reasons why we have made a commitment to providing industry-leading workforce support and benefits.
I have also spent a great deal of time working as part of organizations [such as] Mom’s First to help drive forward innovation and access in the child care industry through these [public-private] partnerships and the creation of legislation to help shore up the industry as a solution for families and as a solid carrier choice for team members.
PBN: How many locations do you currently have? Do you have any further plans of growth and expansion?
RILEY: We currently have three locations in Rhode Island and in New Jersey, and have two more opening in Connecticut and New York. Excitingly, we are weeks away from launching a comprehensive franchise program in which we will be able to guide people who have a deep passion for creating an incredible community and high-quality child care program for their own towns.
