Wisconsin Early Childhood Association

A young boy hugs a teacher while another child plays with magnetic letters in a classroom.

COVID-19 Impact

Milwaukee children, especially children of color and children from low-income and impoverished communities, are safe, cared for, and supported academically, socially, and developmentally during and beyond this public health crisis. When more Milwaukee parents begin going back to work, they have access to child care.

Emergency Fund

The Home Grown Child Care Emergency Fund was complemented by funding from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation in the amount of $250,000. Collectively, the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association awarded $350,000 to 140 licensed child care providers in the lowest income neighborhoods of Milwaukee. Specifically, grant awards in the amount of $2,500 were provided to 90 home-based providers and 50 group centers within the five target zip codes serving the highest concentrations of Black and Latinx children.

Home Grown is a national collaborative of funders committed to improving the quality of and access to home-based child care with a mission to increase access to and the quality of home-based child care. 

After a YouTuber posted a video claiming that Minnesota child care centers receiving public funding were not providing services to children, the federal government froze child care funding for five majority-Democratic states.
Although we celebrate Provider Appreciation Day one day a year, the home-based child care providers who care for our children earn our gratitude and support every single day, every single moment of the year.
Hayley Village, a home-based child care provider in San Mateo County, California, shares her experience with unaffordable housing and what it means to have to relocate her family and her business.