ROCHESTER N.Y. — The Rochester Childfirst Network (RCN) celebrates 160 years of service through their history of assisting children and families in the Greater Rochester Area.

“The quality of the experience the children get here are second to none,” says Executive Director & CEO of Rochester Childfirst Net Lynn Lubecki. “We work very hard to make sure we value our parents and families; that we engage them in their child’s education and we hire the best talent we can find.”

Providing early childcare and educational services to the Rochester community for nearly 16 decades, and the same value of providing quality childcare coincides with RCN’s vision, says Lubecki.

“A belief that all children deserve that opportunity to grow to their fullest potential, that’s our vision and it’s also something that’ll happen 160 years from now,” she said.

The organization was first formed in 1856 by a group of Rochester wives and men of wealth. The center endured major undertakings during the recession.

Once the men left, women and children were forced to evolve and adapt.

“There was no Walmart. They learned how to sew, they learned how to cook in those big mansions on East Avenue and around this area here in the South Wedge, they learned skills that helped them survive,” Lubecki said. 

After World War I the mothers began to enter the work force, the agency ended vocational training and changed its name to the Rochester Children’s Nursery. Later, RCN moved in 1954 to its current four-acre site on South Avenue. Services expanded to include school-age programs, special education and family child care.

According to their website, RCN is the third oldest childhood agency in the United States and it is also the first child care center in Rochester whose focus goes beyond child care.

“We provide support and training and professional development to family childcare providers in the community. There’s an impact of almost 2,500 to 3,000 children out in this community,” she says.

Lubecki adds that nearly a decade with RCN, striving to ensure that families and children are offered the best support is a top priority and those standards will continue to withstand.

“We are an organization of integrity and of honesty and transparency and what I’ve learned is that carries you a long way,” says Lubecki.