At Caring Senior Service of Victoria, supporting families isn’t just something we do for our clients — it’s something we live out within our own team.
Recently featured in the Victoria Advocate, our owner Vanessa Wagster was recognized for creating an innovative solution to support working moms in the office. After two team members became pregnant around the same time, Vanessa helped transform an unused office space into a dedicated childcare room, allowing them to continue growing their careers without sacrificing time with their children.
By bringing in a nanny to provide daily care, this unique approach has created a supportive, family-first workplace where employees don’t feel forced to choose between their careers and motherhood. Today, those babies are now toddlers who are part of the Caring family — complete with name tags and company T-shirts.
This story reflects our commitment to flexibility, compassion, and finding creative ways to support both our team and the families we serve.
Below is the full article as published in the Victoria Advocate.
Local company supports working moms through in-office daycare
By Lindsey Plotkin
For two employees at Caring Senior Service (CSS), leadership has taken their work experience above and beyond, allowing them to experience the joys of motherhood while continuing to build their careers.
CSS owner Vanessa Wagster felt immense guilt while raising her daughter, always feeling like she was missing out on milestones with both her daughter and career.
When two of her employees, Lupe McClary and Brittany Westbrook, unexpectedly became pregnant around the same time, they began discussing options surrounding childcare. Neither wanted to go the traditional daycare route, but both wanted to continue their careers.
Wagster presented her idea to convert an unused room in CSS’s office into a daycare room, wanting the best for McClary and Westbrook.
“I’ve always tried to make sure I communicated very well to my staff members here at the office and to our caregivers as well,” Wagster said. “We recognize that we employ a lot of mothers, and we want to recognize the importance of family. When there are situations that come up where we have to make sure we are being career minded, you know, but also when something comes up and you have to take care of your kiddos, let’s talk about it and figure out how we can make it work and do it in a way where moms don’t feel guilty.”
McClary and Westbrook talked it over, wanting to have an appropriate work-life balance with their children. They also understand that their situation is unique, as they primarily work out of the main office, unlike caretakers who work in homes.
After much deliberation, McClary and Westbrook came up with a plan, writing up interview questions and going through all of the pros and cons of having their babies in the office.
Together, they found a nanny, who comes to the office daily, providing hands-on care to both children and allowing the moms peace of mind while they work.
“You feel like you don’t have to choose,” Westbrook said. “Obviously, we still have a job to do, but it’s still different than if we’re just dropping them somewhere and not seeing them all day, because it’d be after five before we’d even get to them. They’ll have little breaks every now and then throughout the day where they want to come out, and she’ll let them come out, and they’ll say hi, and give us a little pick me up in the middle of the day.”
The entire office staff has fully adapted to having two babies, now toddlers, in the office with them. Tucker, Westbrook’s daughter, and Nico, McClary’s son, have nametags and Caring Senior Service T-shirts, bringing joy to the office.
McClary and Westbrook say the two are almost like siblings at this point because they spend so much time together. Neither poses a distraction during the workday to their moms, but if something happens, each can step in.
“My youngest before this one was 12 when he was born, so (my kids are) all bigger,” McClary said. “He was a surprise, so it was a transition, and I stayed home with all my others. Daycare really wasn’t an option, but I love the environment that we have here. The work and being able to have both has just been just a very big blessing, honestly, and like Brittany was saying, the peace of mind of having not only them here, but the person that takes care of them, she does an amazing job. Being here all day, for the most part, I’m able to do everything I need to do. I don’t have to go in and step in and do anything like that, or worry about, ‘Is he okay’ at wherever, like a daycare or whatnot, because that’s scary.”
The workplace is so tight-knit that McClary actually told Westbrook and Wagster about her pregnancy before her husband.
Having Wagster’s support was a huge factor in their decision to bring their children to work. It was entirely her idea, and her support has been unconditional, even when the children were too young to come to work.
Nico was born two months early and spent a significant amount of time in the neonatal intensive care unit at DeTar Hospital North, and McClary would take her lunch break to go feed him. Once both moms agreed on a nanny, they never looked back.
“Ultimately, this is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” Wagster said. “I wish, the guilt that I had when I went through this was never something anybody imposed on me. As a woman who has the career, who has the child, you impose it on yourself. So it’s not like anybody ever made me feel that way. Ultimately I’m just thrilled that we’ve been able to accomplish this and hopefully relieve all of that guilt, because that was a big driving force for me to buy the business. Quite frankly, that’s what even started me wanting to own my own business so that I could have a little bit more control over a career and motherhood. Now she’s in college, so I’m glad to be able to pass that on for them.”
Now, Wagster hopes that she can inspire other employers to support their employees in similar ways.