As working parents across Northwest Indiana continue to struggle with finding dependable childcare, especially during overnight shifts and nontraditional work hours, one young entrepreneur hopes to offer a new solution rooted in flexibility, compassion and community support.
To introduce families to that vision, Gabrielle Simmons, founder of Lillie’s Leaping Learners LLC, will host a Community Hair Experience on Saturday, May 30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 5164 E. 81st Ave. in Merrillville. The free family-centered event will offer free haircuts for children and families, $20 braiding and hairstyling per family, giveaways, community resources, local vendors and activities for children and families of all ages.
Originally planned for a smaller venue, Simmons said overwhelming community interest prompted organizers to move the event to a larger location.
For Simmons, however, the event represents far more than haircuts and giveaways.
“This is rooted in community care,” Simmons told the Crusader during a recent interview. “I’m creating a 24-hour childcare center, but ultimately being a flexible childcare solution is my business.”
Simmons officially launched Lillie’s Leaping Learners LLC in April and is currently working to establish what she hopes will become a unique childcare option serving families throughout Northwest Indiana. Her long-term goal is to open a 24-hour childcare and enrichment center, offering support for working parents whose schedules often fall outside traditional daycare hours.
“There aren’t many childcare centers that are open 24 hours,” Simmons said, noting that parents working overnight shifts, healthcare jobs, manufacturing schedules and multiple jobs often struggle to find dependable care.
While she has explored potential sites in Gary, East Chicago, Hobart and Merrillville, Simmons said she is intentionally searching for communities where childcare access is limited rather than oversaturated with providers. Merrillville, she noted, already has numerous childcare providers, prompting her to consider areas of greater need. The Community Hair Experience, she said, will also help her identify where families most need support by gathering information from attendees about where they live and what services are most needed.
Her interest in childcare did not emerge from a business plan first. It developed inside classrooms.
For the past four years, Simmons has worked in education, beginning as a paraprofessional at Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary, where she worked with kindergarten through fifth-grade special education students. She later became an assistant teacher in the Crete school district. It was there, she said, that she began noticing the challenges many children face and the limitations educators encounter when trying to meet every child’s needs.
Within months of entering the field, Simmons said she realized she eventually wanted to create something different.
“I saw the impact that you could have on a child’s life and especially preparing them for the future,” Simmons said. “It hurt going to work every day and noticing the help that my kids needed, noticing the different lesson plans or activities they needed to succeed, but there being so much red tape and bureaucracy.”
Rather than criticize schools or parents, Simmons believes many families and educators are overwhelmed by competing demands and limited resources.
“A lot of people can only teach you, give to you or love you in the capacity of what they know,” Simmons said, explaining that many parents are balancing work, financial pressures and personal struggles while trying to care for their children.
She recalled seeing children struggle academically while coping with instability at home, exhaustion or emotional challenges that often go unnoticed.
“You can have children acting out, but sometimes people don’t know what’s happening at home,” Simmons said, adding that children often need more individualized attention and emotional support than traditional systems can provide.
Her vision for Lillie’s Leaping Learners includes individualized learning support, relationship-building and eventually a nature-based curriculum that allows children to learn beyond traditional classroom walls. More importantly, she wants children to feel emotionally safe.
“The relationship building was my favorite part,” Simmons said of her classroom experience. “When a child feels comfortable enough to ask you for help, that means something.”
The business itself also carries deep personal meaning.
Lillie’s Leaping Learners is named after Simmons’ great-grandmother, Lillie, whom she described as deeply compassionate and community-minded. Simmons said naming the organization after her great-grandmother was a way to honor her legacy while building something meaningful for future generations.
Earlier this year, Simmons was accepted into Future Founders, a Chicago-based startup fellowship supporting emerging entrepreneurs. Since then, she has researched childcare regulations in Indiana and Illinois, applied for grants and sought guidance from experienced educators while refining her business model. Her long-range vision also includes expanding educational and enrichment opportunities for children while providing families with support that extends beyond daycare.
For now, Simmons hopes Saturday’s Community Hair Experience gives families more than free services.
As she hopes it offers encouragement, resources and a glimpse into what she believes childcare can become: a trusted, nurturing environment built around the realities of working families and the needs of children.