Written by our founder, Sophie Felts
I flower for a living. I generally work full time, maybe more than full time. This business is one of my great passions, my love, my living.
In my house, we are hosting a small “pod” of cousins, parents take turns supervising.
My husband and I also have four elementary school kids. This year has changed the way our family functions and I have found myself immersed in a whole new reality. I have discovered there is much work to be done in this new normal.
We live in Montgomery County, MD. My kids’ teachers are some of the most creative, dedicated and hard-working teachers in the entire world. But distance learning last spring was ROUGH for our family. Our little kids, a 4th grader, a pair of second graders, and kindergartner, needed constant parental help with their Zoom calls. Our family ended the spring semester with academic regression, frayed nerves, and one less full-time job.
Part of me felt relieved, though, when our county decided to go virtual this fall. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about my kids getting exposed to coronavirus at school. The other part of me felt furious. As employers were starting to require workers to report back in person, parents lost the safe place to send their kids. What about the kids whose parents can’t stay home? It sank into my gut. If MY family was struggling, imagine how thousands of low-income and essential worker families in our community would suffer.
Our county is the 15th largest school district in the nation. Distance learning logistics are intense, and the county has been working hard to deliver academics to every school child. To an extent, it really is working, at least in theory. The academic component of school IS being provided by teachers teaching on-line. But the childcare component of schooling, so crucial to working families, is missing.
Many families are figuring it out. They are moving to one salary, with many women leaving the workforce. They are hiring staff to create learning pods. They are relying on friends and family. Unfortunately, thousands of other families have fewer resources, and their children are left home alone or in the care of older siblings juggling their own schoolwork.
These problems felt huge and hard and heavy. So, I started to research solutions. I sat in on County meetings, participated in MCPS forums, reached out to principals and PTA presidents, and called up other parents and business leaders. My first glimmer of hope came in the form of a woman named Rory Richardson. Rory, who is brilliantly energetic and insanely hard-working, along with her team at Bar T Ranch (one of the largest childcare providers in the area), had an idea.
Bar-T Ranch teamed up with 15 other certified child-care providers to develop the “Learning Hub” concept. Each hub has two adult staff members to support a group of up to 13 children. Providers follow strict safety protocols and each hub occupies its own room. Children have staff at the ready to help them log into classes and lots of exercise and play in between classes. With nine hours of childcare coverage each weekday, parents are able to keep their jobs.
A newly formed “Educational Equity Learning Hub”
This fall, our local childcare providers hope to operate as many Learning Hubs as possible in MCPS elementary schools. The barrier, of course, is money. It costs $1,200 per month for one child to participate in a Learning Hub. For many parents, this simply is not feasible.
What could be done to help fund Learning Hubs?
I decided to ask Anna Hargrave and Kimberly Rusnak from the Montgomery County office of the Greater Washington Community Foundation. Anna and Kimberly take their mission of building more equitable and just communities seriously. They are both determined and dedicated and are doing the hard work day in and day out.
I was delighted to discover the Children’s Opportunity Fund, one of the foundation’s impact initiatives, was already working to seek solutions to help address the needs of kids struggling with remote learning. I was thrilled that Children’s Opportunity Fund could become the primary mechanism to raise childcare “scholarships” for the families who need it the most.
I’m happy to report that we have raised over $500,000! Thus far, Educational Equity and Enrichment Hubs have opened in 3 locations in our community with about 100 students enrolled with more sites opening in the coming weeks. That is but a tiny percentage of the 29,000 county children who need our help. We, as a community, need to keep going. We have momentum.
Lots of us want to help - we just don’t know how. A gift to the Children’s Opportunity Fund is a real way to make a difference right away.
In this moment, I know we all have our own “stuff” to deal with. “Stuff” that is panic inducing and keeps us up at night. I have been tempted to put my blinders on, to just focus on my own family. But NOW is the time when our community needs us to show up. To dig deep. To move past the debates over how this problem could have been handled differently. To look the problem right in the eyes. And to collectively wrap our arms around the kids and families who need it the most.
If you live locally and would like to make a contribution, you can do so here. If you would like information on how to start an initiative like this in your area, please email me at sophie@sophiefelts.com. We really can make a difference.
UPDATE: Throughout this process, I kept asking “WHERE ARE THE PUBLIC DOLLARS!?”, Kimberly Rusnak (from the Community Foundation) assured me that if we could get the ball rolling with private donations, often public money will follow. Kimberly just let us know that she was able to testify in front of the County Council about the work being done and $7 million was approved to increase supports for school age children getting access to childcare supports this fall.
I have learned SO much thru all of this, most importantly…. regular people can make a difference.
Video by City Gate Films
