Local Childcare Centers Challenged by Pandemic Receive BBF Support
Throughout the pandemic, challenges related to childcare have made headlines across the U.S. Some parents have juggled the demands of working from home while caring for children. Other parents who work on the front lines—whether in retail stores, healthcare settings, or in other “essential worker” positions—have faced the tremendous challenges of finding reliable, safe, and affordable childcare.
For local families, the challenges have been no different. In the early days of the pandemic, many local childcare centers temporarily suspended operations. By late spring, centers were re-opening with new protocols and safety procedures in place to keep children, families, and staff members safe. But it certainly has not been an easy road.
Already operating on extremely thin margins before the pandemic began, childcare centers now face additional expenses: purchasing cleaning supplies, acquiring personal protective equipment, buying thermometers, retrofitting pick-up and drop-off spaces, and more. And while recruiting and retaining staff has always been a challenge, the pandemic has even further pressured childcare centers. Childcare providers must abide by state-mandated staff to child ratios. As COVID continues to maintain a high level of community spread, childcare centers now face the added complications of staying in ratio when staff members are quarantined and unable to come to work.
Despite these challenges, local childcare providers across the community continue their heroic efforts to provide safe, high-quality care and learning opportunities for our youngest citizens. Their efforts also ensure that parents can continue to work and to keep our local economy running. And Ball Brothers Foundation is deeply grateful for all that center directors and staff are doing.
Throughout 2020, BBF has responded to the needs of local childcare centers through a series of grants, all designed to buoy centers. From general operating support to project-specific funding, BBF has focused funding on helping local childcare centers re-start and continue operations with the hope of a better tomorrow.
Here are a few examples of grant funding awarded this year:
·Level 0-2 Mini-Grants. Via funding from BBF, By5 offered three rounds of “mini-grants” to Paths to Quality Level 0-2 childcare providers to support the purchase of equipment, supplies, and more. Childcare centers at these levels often do not have the same funding opportunities from the state or private funders as their “higher quality” counterparts. BBF sought to level the playing field by ensuring these childcare centers also had access to the resources they needed to meet new COVID protocols to keep staff, children, and families safe.
Expanding Outdoor Play. Childcare centers have been encouraged to increase outdoor learning and playtime as part of their strategies to mitigate the spread of COVID. As a long-time supporter of outdoor education, BBF has been pleased to provide funding this year to support several centers’ efforts to improve outdoor play areas, including purchasing new playground equipment.
Capital Improvements and Improvements to Pick-Up/Drop-Off: As childcare centers employ new drop-off/pick-up procedures to reduce the risk of COVID transmission inside their facilities, BBF funding is helping to support additional staffing and sanitation costs associated with these procedures. Other funding is helping to address long-standing capital needs at childcare facilities including replacing exterior doors, installing security cameras, and other needs.
Supporting Payroll and General Operating Expenses. Some local childcare centers have been hard hit by the loss of revenue from center closures throughout early 2020. Some centers are working hard to ensure that staff who are quarantined due to COVID receive paid leave. And still other centers have reduced class sizes to meet social distancing requirements. BBF funding to supplement payrolls and provide general operating support is intended to help reduce the strain on centers’ budgets.
In total, BBF’s funding for local early childcare centers and programming totaled $150,000 in 2020. We remain committed to supporting this vital work in the year ahead.
To view a list of grants awarded in 2020, visit our website: https://www.ballfdn.org/grants-database
