Reimagining Early Childhood Education
406 Families Guest Contributor: Erica MacKey, MyVillage
MyVillage childcare provider Darcy reads to children during story time in her Missoula home.
Ask any working parent, and they’ll likely tell you about a nightmarish struggle to find quality, affordable child care for their infant or toddler. Despite 15 million children age 0-5 being in paid child care, more than 50 percent of parents say they are unhappy with their current solution.
My friend and fellow entrepreneur Beth Szymanski and I were among these parents. In fact, we couldn’t find any quality child care for our infant daughters in our respective communities of Bozeman, MT and Boulder, CO. Beth and her husband ended up reducing their work schedules (and salaries) at jobs they loved to care for their little one. After six months, they placed their daughter in a quality program—but one with an unbelievable price tag of $2,000 a month. Infant care costs more than college tuition in 30 states, and exceeds the cost of housing for families in 39 states.
The financial and emotional stress the nation’s child care shortage causes families like ours is significant. But Beth and I quickly discovered the current system is as broken for educators as it is for parents and children in care. It’s going to take a village to solve child care in the U.S., but not just any village.
MyVillage is rooted in the idea that we can rebuild the village of care in our communities, and in doing so, raise each other up. MyVillage is a solution that works for everyone: kids, families and educators. We’ve helped over 80 women start thriving, high quality in-home child care businesses so far. We provide educators with a business-in-a-box that includes comprehensive business insurance, legal and tax support, and we handle all aspects of marketing, billing, and enrollment management. This allows educators to focus on what they love: providing an exceptional experience for the children in their care.
MyVillage believes that happier providers and educators mean happier kids. Happier kids mean happier parents. Happier parents mean happier communities. And happier communities mean a better world. I want that community for my family, and for all families—and we should not have to be wealthy or sit on a waiting list for years to achieve that.
MyVillage currently offers more than 80 home-based childcare programs throughout Colorado and Montana — most already open or slated to open soon. Our plan to have 1 million infants and toddlers in care within the next 10 years. Ninety-five percent of our educators are brand-new to the field, and almost all of them are moms like us who want to be able to stay home during these early years with their own children while also bringing in income for the family. To learn more about how we can help you access the freedom of business ownership doing some of the most important work in the world, get in touch through www.myvillage.com. You’ll find our village is ready and waiting to help you, whether you are a parent seeking quality, affordable care or someone ready for a career change.
