Minneapolis Child Care Center Owner Wants to Make a Difference

“It’s My Passion”

Said Nur understands the challenges that families new to the United States can face. Many of the challenges are the same ones that he faced nearly 30 years ago.

“When I came here I didn’t speak English. I had no family here. It was difficult. But I knew that I wanted to make a difference and give back to the community that had helped me.”

Fast forward several decades, and Nur was busy making a difference working in child care. But the pandemic and some building issues forced his child care center to close.

That’s about the time he found First Children’s Finance and Business Development Specialist Huda Kahin.

“For about 7 years I had been doing child care. After our last center closed, I knew I wanted to build something new and even better.”

Nur’s journey with First Children’s Finance began through FCF’s Community Conversations for Early Childhood Entrepreneurs (CCECE), where he participated in eight sessions featuring Somali guest speakers covering financial literacy and business sustainability.

Upon completing the program, he received a forgivable loan and later secured additional funding through First Children’s Finance’s loan fund, in partnership with Next Stage MN, with a Shariah-compliant loan.

He also worked with FCF staff on a rate structure study, developing a business plan, conducting a financial analysis with two-year projections, and creating a policy and procedures handbook.

Construction of Alphabet Child Care took about 1 ½ years, but since it opened in February 2024, the center in Minneapolis has been going strong and has made a difference in the lives of families – particularly Hispanic, Somali, and Afghan.

Nur mentioned there were three main challenges to building his new center: construction time, finances, and enrollment. Finances were helped with the interest-free loan from FCF that allowed him to get a strong start. Then training from FCF helped him build on his knowledge of enrollment management and how to balance his finances to make things sustainable.

“Finances were tough,” Nur said. “You need money for rent, salaries, construction, and many other things.” And he said that finances needed to be solidified so he could best address enrollment for the many families that needed quality child care so they could go out and get jobs to help their families succeed.

“Huda was fantastic. She helped me put everything together to make sure that my business would have a chance to be successful,” Nur says. “But more importantly, she and FCF took the time to understand me. They not only worked with me, but they walked with me every step of the way.”

“Without FCF I would not have been able to open the center we have today. And having this is so important for our community.”

Nur said that right now things are going well. The center is nearly fully staffed – with two shifts and even weekend hours for families that need it – and enrollment is near capacity.

When asked why he is a child care center owner, Nur doesn’t have to think long. “I like to help people. I know what people are going through. This is my chance to give back to my community and to all the people who have helped me along the way.

“This is my passion.”