蜜桃影视

Virginia鈥檚 Roanoke Valley, anchored by its namesake city in Southwest Virginia, is a considerable distance from the economically booming area surrounding Washington, D.C. A calls it the 鈥渙ther Virginia: a geographically isolated, mostly rural, once-influential region that’s got more in common with West Virginia than northern Virginia.鈥�

don鈥檛 make enough to afford basic necessities, and one of the most critical of these is childcare. If your young kids don鈥檛 have a safe, stimulating place to be during the day, you can鈥檛 go out and make a living to support them.

An innovative new partnership launched by the United Way of Roanoke Valley is addressing the issue. However, according to Vivien McMahan, the organization鈥檚 director of Early Learning Strategies, was designed to help all families navigate the system. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 stop at vulnerable families,鈥� she insists. 鈥淭his affects everybody.鈥�

When infant care costs more than college tuition, affordability matters up and down the economic ladder. And it affects entire communities, not just families with young children. As McMahan explains, reliable childcare 鈥渟upports our workforce, our small businesses, and our school readiness.鈥� Without it, the economy can鈥檛 thrive.

Before Smart2Start, families had to find and decipher a wide variety of application processes, not knowing whether their children qualify for public assistance or other supports. Smart2Start鈥檚 portal allows them to apply to public schools, early education programs, and private providers all at once. Nearly 150 providers accept the application.

Among other matches, coordinated enrollment efforts led to a 4-year-old boy being placed in a private center with funding from the nearby Salem City Public Schools. McMahan adds that the dollars extend all year round and beyond the school day, which is a big deal for the working parents of this child.

Smart2Start came about because funders decided to break the rules. 鈥淲e saw the problem,鈥� McMahan recalls. 鈥淏ut we didn鈥檛 see change happening. People said, I guess this is just the way it has to be And we answered, Who says so?鈥� It came down to whether the community would resign itself to letting the crisis continue鈥攐r had the determination to solve the problem for itself. It chose the former.

This moment of insight led to uncomfortable but necessary conversations among stakeholders and even competitors. 鈥淲e were forced鈥攚e forced ourselves鈥攖o work together and cross imaginary lines,鈥� says McMahan. 鈥淲e laid out all the applications in front of us. The decision makers all came to the table and discussed what could be changed and what couldn鈥檛.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e a funder,鈥� she continues, 鈥渂ut we do it differently than other United Ways and most other foundations. We find value in funding collaborations, therefore set the example by working collaboratively ourselves.鈥� The partnership, which also includes the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and the Virginia Department of Education, plans to improve and sustain Smart2Start for years to come.

Smart2Start is just that鈥攁 start. In the Roanoke Valley, there are 20,000 kids age 0-5, but only 2,000 publicly funded seats. In the future, thanks to this simple, elegant technological solution鈥攁nd the matching power it offers鈥攖he market will expand to accommodate more if not most of the children in this community.