San Bruno Community Foundation Supporting Child Care Providers

Momentum is building behind a local effort to support home and center child care providers through the Child Care Relief Fund and organizers credit the San Bruno Community Foundation as an early contributor. The fund was spearheaded through $2 million CARES Act funds allocated by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. Grants cover one month’s operating expenses (max of $10,000 to homes and $55,000 to centers) to those serving the most at-risk children in San Mateo County. Over 377 child care providers serving 10,463 kids ages 0-13 applied with a total need of $6.5M. Just over 100 providers were funded in the first round, leaving hundreds of providers and millions in unmet remaining.

When organizers began reaching out to community partners for donations to the fund, the San Bruno Community Foundation (SBCF) was the first to answer the call. According to Emily Roberts, President of the SBCF Board of Directors, “Child care providers are always essential, but we see their value even more acutely as the local economy attempts to recover from the devastation caused by COVID-19. We know that early childhood is a critical time in development and that maintaining a network of early educators to support San Bruno children and families is imperative. Without child care, parents can’t go to work. Bolstering the child care sector is vital for our economy to thrive and for children to succeed in school and in life.” San Bruno has a higher-than-average percentage (76%) of parents in the labor force, which puts increased demand on the local child care system. Preserving this essential infrastructure is imperative for working families. Programs funded thanks to the $100,000 donation by the SBCF include Happy Hall Schools, San Bruno Park School District/Belle Air Preschool, Julie's Early Birds Daycare, Mimi's Wonderschool, Sherrie's Kiddie Corner, Abuelitas Daycare and Rollingwood Child Care.

All seven of these programs have seen increased expenses during the pandemic coupled with lower enrollment/incomes. These small businesses, 71% owned/operated by women, serve 275 children, mostly infants and toddlers who receive full-time care. The Child Care Relief Fund prioritizes programs serving the most vulnerable children; over three-quarters of the funded programs serve English-language learners and 37% receive vouchers.

Speaking to the impact of the grant for her business, the operator of Julie’s Early Birds Daycare said, “The grant will go towards paying my rent in order to remain open, food costs to keep the kids fed, updated toys and art and crafts as well as continuous cleaning supplies, soap, hand and liquid soap [and] updated thermometers.” The impact isn’t just a fiscal one but a human one. Early childhood a period during which 90% of brain growth occurs. Addressing the importance of early learning programs to children, the operator of the Belle Air Preschool (San Bruno Park District) said, “Early literacy is the cornerstone of children being prepared for success, especially those from low-income [families] or [children learning English]. SBPSD has proven results in...enhance[ing] the preschool experience for this demographic in San Bruno. We must meet the challenge of COVID-19 and not lose the momentum we have witnessed with this age group.”

Following the example of early donors like the San Bruno Community Foundation, corporations, churches, cities, utilities and other community foundations have added their contributions to the fund with more than $800,000 raised. Seeing both the impact on local businesses and working families as well as the support from this broad coalition of donors - the Board of Supervisors voted in November to allocate an additional $2M to the fund, followed by more than $450,000 in December. In total, more than $5M has been raised in San Mateo County to support programs serving more than 8,000 children..

The fund is administered by local nonprofit Community Equity Collaborative and recommendations are made by a review panel that included representatives from the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, First 5 San Mateo County, 4C’s of San Mateo County, Build Up for San Mateo County’s Children, Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Center for Early Learning, San Mateo County Credit Union and the Child Care Partnership Council. Organizers still have an unmet need of over $1M and plan to continue their fundraising efforts through the end of the year.

For more information, contact Dayna Chung, Executive Director, Community Equity Collaborative at dayna@communityequitycollaborative.org or Christine Padilla, Director, Build Up for San Mateo County's Children at cpadilla@sanmateo4cs.org.

To donate visit http://www.communityequitycollaborative.org/child-care-relief-fund.html.