History
Fruit & Flower's history is filled with the laughter of small children.

More than a century ago, eight school-girls formed the Children's Flower Mission. The girls' goal: to deliver bouquets to shut-ins and hospitals. As the girls matured, they turned their charitable energies to the need for child care for working mothers. In 1906 the group opened the Flower Mission Day Nursery. The fee was ten cents per day and children from infancy to age seven were admitted. The demand was surprisingly high.

Fruit & Flower has grown to become one of the more respected child care programs in the state and has maintained its focus on providing assistance to families in need. A scholarship program with 18 full-time scholarships provides much needed support and assistance to families with major challenges in their lives such as single-parenting, completing college studies, and re-entering the workplace.

Fruit & Flower provides an exemplary environment where children can flourish. We have programs for infants through pre-kindergarteners. In addition to our developmentally appropriate program, we provide nutritious breakfasts, lunches and snacks prepared on site. We also provide families with the opportunity to participate in a variety of child centered activities.
The Fruit & Flower mission is to provide high-quality, early- childhood care and education for children whose parents are employed, in school, or in training, regardless of their ability to pay.
Fruit & Flower has always been visionary in the field of child care. Now our vision has led us to an exciting new emphasis and direction on sustainable business practices. By “sustainability” we mean progression toward traditional environmental efficiency -- reducing our footprint on the planet. But we also mean economic sustainability. We want to teach our children, our children’s children, and their families how to live comfortably in their world. The “seventh generation philosophy” bears in the mind the effects of an action on the next seven generations. We simply intend to roll up our sleeves and begin to find ways to improve our children’s life quality one day at a time into the future. We also want to set an example among childcare centers and the broader community.

Eight young women began the Fruit & Flower Child Care dream in 1906 — Helen Burrel, Dorthea Eliot, Ellen Eliot, Anna Farrell, Ida Farrell, Antoinette Montgomery, Clara Teal and Frances Warren. If you are a descendant or know the descendants of any of these women, please contact Fruit & Flower immediately at info@fruitandflower.org.