ROANOKE, Va. – School, work and business closures have placed a burden on local childcare facilities and families who rely on them, including essential employees who can’t work from home.
There are about 150 childcare centers in the Roanoke Valley that until recently, served thousands of kids and their families. Now, due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19), the centers are either closed altogether or they have to limit the number of children they can watch to fewer than 10, including staff members.
Because of this, more than half of those families are now stuck with no one to watch their kids.
Childcare centers are also having a tough time getting food, cleaning supplies, baby wipes and diapers.
The director for early learning strategies at United Way of Roanoke Valley, Vivien McMahan, works with local childcare programs across the region.
She said that some families who can work from home and watch their kids are still dropping them off at daycare. Those centers have a hard time saying no because they want to help out the community and still need to make money to pay their staff.
However, that means essential employees -- like first responders, healthcare, transportation and even grocery store workers -- don’t have a spot for their kids when they need to clock in. Many of those families also don’t have anyone else to watch their children while they’re at work.
Those essential employees are also paying twice as much for childcare. They have to pay their daycare center as normal to hold their child’s spot for when businesses and schools reopen, even if there’s not a spot for their child right now. Plus, they may end up paying someone else to watch their kids in a pinch.
“It’s really hard when they have folks who can work from home and leave their children home with them, and they’re not doing it. So we want to make sure that families understand that, you know, we want to provide minimal exposure to everyone," McMahn said. "I know that many people feel like they’re stuck at home right now, but really we just need to think about it as being safe at home right now.”
The United Way has set up an online application for guardians who are essential employees to help them find a day care spot and set up a COVID-19 Community Response Fund to raise money for food, supplies and whatever else childcare centers need.
The YMCA of Virginia’s Blue Ridge decided to help by opening up four emergency childcare centers. The program is called Camp Hope.
The sites will be open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and specifically devoted to essential employees. They can only care for about 18 kids at each site and they’re splitting those children up to stay under the 10-person limit per class.
President and CEO Mark Johnson said they are working with limited staff but they know how much the community needs this service right now.
“People have needs that they weren’t ready for, that they hadn’t planned for. They had childcare that they, that were just a given and now they’re closed. So there’s a lot of needs and a lot of things where people’s lives have been upended. And hopefully this will just give one tool for some of those parents to have," Johnson said.
Full-day care will be available to families for school-aged children 5-12 years old at their Kirk Family YMCA, Salem Family YMCA and Botetourt Family YMCA locations. They’ll charge a daily rate of $30, with financial assistance available if needed. Each site has limited capacity and registration will be received on a first-come, first-served basis.
Fill out the Camp Hope interest form by clicking or tapping here.