Although life and the weather are ever-changing, quality childcare and education is a constant need. To do this, we need Early Childhood initiatives like Sixpence Child Care Partnerships (Sixpence CCP). Early care and education professionals have a short but crucial time to help young lives bloom. We and Sixpence CCP can help. Read more about Shannon Crosby, the director of Cherry Park Creative Corner, LL, and her Sixpence Child Care Partnership.
For a sapling to thrive and to grow into one of the majestic oaks we see today, first it must be rooted deeply within the ground. The same applies to children’s early years. Sixpence, one of our early childhood initiatives, focuses on setting infants and toddlers up for success during those first three years of their life.
Read our latest blog, which features an interview with Stephanie Allen, who tells us all about her takeaways from collaborating with Sixpence CCP.
Today, we asked Stoney Straatmann, a licensed childcare provider and one of Sixpence Child Care Partnership Programs (Sixpence CCP) from Hastings, Nebraska to talk about her experiences and benefits of the partnership. Before we speak with Stoney, we’d like to explain how Sixpence and its Child Care Partnerships work together.
When childcare’s future looks cloudy, McCook’s Communities for Kids brainstorms and creates a silver lining by collecting families’ responses through an in-depth survey and creating a childcare incentives program! Read about how the team forged quality care incentives to improve the presence of their community’s childcare programs and providers.
We are excited to be part of some incredible community-based efforts, particularly Matt Talbot Kitchen & Outreach’s recent ones to provide housing for the homeless. Throughout these last few months, we can’t deny the pandemic’s gravity or community accomplishments to help families thrive. As the saying goes, if it…
Although many professions, from retail to bartending to hospitality, have felt COVID-19’s impact, there is one, essential part of our workforce whose efforts occasionally remain unsung: our early care and education providers.
We realize, who better then, to speak to the struggles and hopes childcare providers face than a provider herself? Today, Roxann Bihlmaier, the Director of Kinder Haus Child Center in Eustis, Nebraska, is that person. Although every childcare provider’s story is unique, their hardships, hopes, and fears are all very real. Let us allow Roxann to tell us her story.
Our early care providers are strategizing, struggling, and helping – even amid this potentially fatal illness. We are glad to hear and share their stories. It is undeniable that early care workers have been duly impacted by COVID-19. It is, however, equally undeniable that this demographic has proven itself to be hard-working, resilient, and resourceful.
As we spoke with Chantel Tonkinson, the director of Ladybug Crossing Early Learning Program in North Platte, Nebraska, our vision of a brighter future and eventual new beginning sharpened into focus. She is reopening Ladybug Crossing on May 11!
Thanks to the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, we and Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative created the Nebraska Child Care Provider Relief Fund. This fund provides Nebraska-based licensed childcare programs and providers with a one-time $1,000 award. These funds are designed to recognize the importance of childcare facilities during this crisis. To date, we’ve received a staggeringly high number of over 1,000 applications.
This spring, COVID-19 is a name and number with which you’re probably well-acquainted. You’re more than likely aware of many other numbers, too. From the number of infected individuals in your area to the number of businesses closed to the number of layoffs, we can recite these statistics by heart.
Here at Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, as an organization that seeks to grow the good life for all our children, we empathize with those who are witnessing, dealing, and adjusting to these uncertain times.
In addition to members of the service industry and retail being impacted, there is one occasionally overlooked, equally affected demographic whose voice we aim to capture: our early care providers.
From creating interactive Facebook platforms for e-learning to navigating uncertain enrollment, early childhood providers’ COVID-19-related struggles and successes are very real, particularly those of Linda Horner. Read about Linda’s experience.
