CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

EDITORIAL: Support for child care comes at the right time

Marin Independent Journal - 9/17/2020

Sep. 17--The Marin Community Foundation has a long record of supporting local child care programs and services.

Its leadership has shown a strong respect for the important community service these programs provide, both in the education and nurturing of local children and in enabling their parents to work and earn enough to economically survive living in high-priced Marin.

It is also important to stress that many of our local businesses rely on those workers.

Keeping local child care services open and available during these past six months of pandemic lockdowns has enabled hundreds of essential workers on the job.

The foundation's previous generosity -- in the form of millions of dollars of local grants -- have helped shore up households in need and our local economy.

In some cases, the programs have played the role as "learning pods" for local schools' distance-learning programs during the pandemic.

In the local child-care arena, many local programs, however, have not been able to weather the crisis. Many have not been able to reopen due to strict coronavirus rules and some have closed down for good.

Those that have stayed open have had to reduce their enrollment in order to provide room for social distancing. Fewer children has meant less income. In addition, the programs have to spend a lot more for cleaning and sanitation costs.

Two of the county's largest programs, North Bay Children's Center and Community Action Marin, report that their enrollment is around half of what it was before the coronavirus crisis. Such a drop takes a toll on the financial health of both programs.

Cheryl Paddack, chief executive officer of North Marin Community Services, spelled out an example of the dilemma facing these programs and the need for the foundation's timely help.

"We have double the amount of staff and half the number of kids because of the COVID health and safety regulations, so the funding will definitely be helpful to support our deficit," she said.

At the same time, the need for these services continues to grow, not close.

As Thomas Peters, the foundation's president, said, "there is no service more central in our community than child care." He understands its importance to the future of those kids and to our local community.

Marin is fortunate to have the foundation, built on the Buck family's generous bequest to charitable needs across our county and grown to $2.3 billion thanks to many local families' interest in helping local needs.

___

(c)2020 The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.)

Visit The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.) at www.marinij.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.