[F]or Emily Marshia a grant will have a lasting impact not only on her Orange County Parent Child Center in Tunbridge, but on the entire county where 80 percent of infants in need of child care are not able to land a spot in a high-quality program.
The $24,100 award to the Parent Child Center, where Marshia is co-executive director, is one of 23 made to projects spread over 12 counties of Vermont. The grants announced last week — totaling $455,500 — are part of the Vermont Birth to Five “Make Way for Kids,” initiative, providing centers with financial support and know-how for early care and learning.
This round of grants is designed to support the creation of almost 400 new child care spaces and improve the quality of an additional 400 spaces throughout the state.
The initiative is an element of Vermont Birth to Five’s strategy to ensure that all children in Vermont have affordable access to high-quality child care by 2025.
The grants were funded through philanthropic donations, with the largest — $100,000 — coming from the National Life Group Charitable Foundation. The emphasis on child care is obvious on the National Life campus in Montpelier, where child care is provided for all employees.
According to Janet McLaughlin, executive director of Vermont Birth to Five, the National Life investment reflects the organization’s view that quality child care is essential to the growth of the company and the Vermont economy.
“This expansion is really what this community has been screaming for,” Marshia said.
The grant comes as a two-part package: funding and technical support. VB5 will provide coaching from early childhood experts on business and program practices to ensure the long-term success of the local programs.
The money will enable the Tunbridge center to double its infant capacity size, from eight to 16 spots.
“What we are receiving will enable us to create lasting change,” Marshia said.
While many grants the center applies for are geared toward expansion and change, Marshia said this one allows the center to strengthen what its staff is already doing on the ground.
With the funds, the Parent Child Center will create a second room for the infants — using one for those under a year old and another for those 12 to 24 months. This will enable staff to provide more specialized care.
Marshia said that beyond her own expansion, she wants the center to be a model for others around the county.
“We really view ourselves as role models,” she said. “We want to become more of a resource. We have just decades and decades of early childhood experience between all of us.”
Marshia was formerly a teacher at a smaller child care center before becoming co-director of the center.
McLaughlin of VB5 said the grants will enable centers across the state to increase the number of available spots and improve the quality of care. While there have been recent gains in quality, the number of places available has remained stagnant, she said.
And for those who can find an opening, parents find they are having to spend a large portion of their paycheck to cover it — a situation that disproportionately affects single mothers.
At an International Women’s Day press conference earlier this year, hosted by Vermont Birth to Five’s sister program Let’s Grow Kids, Robyn Freedner-Maguire said the shortage of public funding for high-quality, affordable child care was perpetuating income disparity.
This year, the state allocated $2.5 million for child care. However, advocates say this is not enough — and that the lack of funding will lead many child care centers to close.
