By SARAH BELLIS

News-Times intern

On a quiet weekday morning, sunlight filters into the toddler room at Ms. Ashley’s Daycare as little hands reach for story-time books, sit down for lunch and settle into familiar routines. The atmosphere in the Oak Harbor child care facility is warm and calm — surprisingly peaceful for a building filled with tiny voices.

Owner Ashley Bernales watches from the doorway with a mixture of pride, gratitude and laughter.

“We knew there was such a shortage,” she said. “So expanding felt like the right thing for the community.”

Bernales has spent 15 years caring for Oak Harbor’s children — long enough to watch infants grow into teenagers, long enough to witness the city’s child care landscape shrink and long enough to become one of the community’s most truste

See Full Page