The man who in another life would have been a Presbyterian minister ministered in this life to thousands of children every day. And he always shared advice he said came from his mom, who told him when he saw scary things on the news, to look for the helpers. 

“There will always be people helping.”

But who helps the helpers? 

Our healthcare workers, pharmacists, store clerks, law enforcement, garbage truck drivers, restaurant folks working for curbside pickup, are all on the clock to keep us fed, medicated, safe and clinging to whatever sense of normal we have in the coronavirus world. 

But often, when those folks have young children of their own, someone needs to care for their children so that they can care for all of us. 

So here’s a thanks to the folks who are unsung heroes of our community and economy in normal times — our childcare workforce.

Knowing that they are working to keep children safe, educated and healthy in one of the most uncertain times in a generation ought to earn them gratitude and thanks from all of us.

Some 79 childcare providers are continuing to keep their doors open so that working parents have a safe space for their children to be while they are on the clock, according to Bruce Watson, executive director of the Escambia Early Learning Coalition.

“Many parents could not continue to work were it not for their child care provider remaining open,” Watson said. “Also some of these providers have made available the space they have due to child absences to our healthcare professionals and other first responders whose needs are greater than in the past.

 

“I am amazed that over two thirds of them decided to remain open,” Watson says.

The Coalition is working to make sure that providers have the supplies they need (toilet paper, cleaner, bleach, etc.). Watson says providers will be paid for their full enrollment rates, even if some of their regular clients are keeping their children home.  

“Our providers are also confident, and have been reassured by me, that we will keep them safe and not ask them to operate if conditions become unsafe. The Coalition is connected to the DOH, EOC and State and are monitoring continuously how this is impacting Escambia County,” Watson says.

The availability and cost of childcare is hard truth for parents. 

One of the metrics that the Studer Community Institute’s Community Dashboard tracks is the cost of childcare as a percentage of a single parent family’s monthly income. In general, it’s a big chunk — about 43 percent in Escambia County and about 39.5 percent in Santa Rosa County. 

Though my children are now older than the childcare needing age, I remember vividly when they each started kindergarten. 

Because I got a raise without my boss having to move a penny.

Over the time my children needed early childhood care, the cost of that went from roughly an extra mortgage payment every month when they were infants, to an extra car payment every month the year they were in VPK.

And VPK is the “free” year of early childhood education. While the state constitution guarantees every Florida a year of VPK education, the state has only ever funded it for roughly 3.5 hours a day of education. Which means parents have to pay for care for the rest of the day if they have a typical 8-hour-a-day job.

For 2019, Florida spent $2,437 per child for a year of VPK. The amount allocated has changed very little since the state VPK program began in 2005 — even though not one thing I bought in 2005 costs less now than it did then. 

Crisis reveals character — of a person and of a community. And when it comes to our children, as we see now, our frontline early childhood caregiving professionals are still standing in the breach on behalf of our kids. 

Michael Bodenhausen, executive director of the YMCA of Northwest Florida, said the Y is providing emergency childcare at the Vickrey Center and Pullum YMCA.

“I believe we are all in this together, and together we can make a difference,” Bodenhausen said.

So for the difference they make every day -- and especially these days -- thank you.