The pandemic shutdown struck at a fundamental need of Anchorage’s working families with young children – safe, reliable childcare. Everyone involved felt the impact — child care facilities lost their income, meaning childcare workers lost their jobs. Essential workers had to scramble to find care for their kids while they stayed on the job.
Financially, childcare was a double bind. With so many people working remotely and the threat of infection real, fewer people were using child-care services, thus cutting providers’ income and making it difficult or impossible for them to stay open. At the same time, people who were working jobs that couldn’t go remote still needed safe, available, reliable care, yet many had lost part of their income and couldn’t cover costs.
When federal CARES Act money for child-care relief began to flow to the Municipality of Anchorage, the city turned to United Way of Anchorage to manage the process. United Way’s history of good stewardship and accountability paid off for the community.
In 2020 we distributed almost $10.2 million in aid to 175 agencies providing childcare at about 200 sites. Immediate infusion payments kept facilities running; ongoing monthly payments recovered lost tuitions, kept providers on staff, and paid for pandemic safety measures for all hands.
In the quotes below, child-care providers testified to its worth.
