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Twins Begin Caring For Kids

Photo courtesy of Kim Cloud

Melanie Wilson and sister, Kim Cloud, recently opened Color Me Kids, a child care center for 1-12 year olds in Ruskin. Gerontologists who run nursing homes in St. Petersburg and Tampa, the two ultimately plan to switch full time to working with children.

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By LOIS KINDLE The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 16, 2008

Updated: 02/14/2008 05:11 pm

RUSKIN - It may seem like a stretch, but operating a nursing home and owning a child care center is really quite similar, said gerontologists Kim Cloud and Melanie Wilson.

"Caring for kids and the elderly are much the same," said Cloud. "The regulations for both are very strict.

"Each involves having staffing ratios, adhering to daily schedules, following menus and standing up to the same type of inspections."

The sisters - 28-year-old identical twins - opened Color Me Kids, a child care center for 1- to 12 -year-olds, Monday in Ruskin. The business offers full-time, part-time and after-school care from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

"I've been to many different child care centers, and they pretty much are about babysitting," Cloud said. "We love kids, and we want to provide them with a solid school-readiness program in an environment of caring, sharing and learning."

Owning a child care center wasn't one of their childhood ambitions. Wilson, of Riverview, wanted to be a dentist, and Cloud, of Lakeland, a pediatrician.

"But when we got to college and found out it would take us forever to graduate, we decided to look into something else," Wilson said.

Previously premed majors at the University of South Florida, the sisters took an introduction to gerontology elective and were encouraged by the instructor to consider the field. After researching the career, its duties and responsibilities, they switched their majors and graduated in 2002.

"We've been around elderly people all our lives," Wilson said. "Our grandmother always visited the sick after church, and she'd take us along with her. So we had a lot of exposure to nursing homes."

"We went into administration because we felt we could make a difference," Cloud said. She works at a nursing home in St. Petersburg, her sister in Tampa.

Then, last May, Cloud said she got the idea to open a child care center and began writing a business plan. An aunt owns two in St. Petersburg where the twins used to volunteer while going to college. After discussing her plan with her sister and her sister's husband, Michael, Cloud said they were off and running.

They chose Ruskin, she said, because the area is growing and many families are moving in.

"Ultimately, we plan to switch entirely to child care," she continued. "One day, we hope to have a chain of Color Me Kids."

COLOR ME KIDS

WHAT: Full-time, part-time and after-school child care center

WHERE: 205 U.S. 41 S., Ruskin

OWNERS: Kim Cloud and Melanie Wilson

DIRECTOR: Sasha Caballero

HOURS: 6:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

INFORMATION: (813) 645-9161 or www.colormekidscc.com

Reporter Lois Kindle can be reached at (813) 865-1553 or lkindle@tampatrib.com.

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