Partner spotlight: The Ross Foundation helping solve the dependent care puzzle, allowing parents to work
Employers and parents know that inadequate dependent care harms our workforce. In rural areas, a day care closure can level a big blow to workplace productivity. When parents and employers in Pleasants, Ritchie and Wood Counties saw shortages in child care. parents were forced to make tough choices about how to get to work. Enter a collaboration including the Ross Foundation.
Working with the local community, Parkersburg Area Community Foundation, Bernard McDonough Foundation, WV Forward and others, the Ross Foundation stepped up to help parents with better access to child care in the Mid-Ohio Valley Region. The Ross Foundation recognized the strain of childcare closures in various counties, initially in Pleasants, then in Ritchie, followed by Wood County. After Executive Director, Tres Ross, began digging in to better understand the challenges care providers face and the needs of families, as well as existing capacity, the Ross Foundation decided to work with a new provider, Community Resources, to open Bright Beginnings. The most recent operation opened on April 8 in Wood County, where there are now 68 openings to help meet the needs of working parents and Parkersburg-area employers.
But not only has the Foundation opened daycare centers, they have joined forces with other local foundations and organizations to raise necessary funding to open and operate buildings, conduct research and evaluate ties with the economic development needs of the region. Thanks to the Ross Foundation's work through Tres Ross, WV Forward’s research scholar, Sarah Surber, the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation's Marian Clowes and others, a mapping of West Virginia's 1,536 childcare providers in the state will better inform how best to implement systemic change that may help solve West Virginia’s dependent care puzzle. This is just one step in forging solutions that allow more parents and grandparents to get to their jobs knowing their children are safe. More information on this effort will be shared each month. Tell us your ideas or stand-out efforts.
Working with the local community, Parkersburg Area Community Foundation, Bernard McDonough Foundation, WV Forward and others, the Ross Foundation stepped up to help parents with better access to child care in the Mid-Ohio Valley Region. The Ross Foundation recognized the strain of childcare closures in various counties, initially in Pleasants, then in Ritchie, followed by Wood County. After Executive Director, Tres Ross, began digging in to better understand the challenges care providers face and the needs of families, as well as existing capacity, the Ross Foundation decided to work with a new provider, Community Resources, to open Bright Beginnings. The most recent operation opened on April 8 in Wood County, where there are now 68 openings to help meet the needs of working parents and Parkersburg-area employers.
But not only has the Foundation opened daycare centers, they have joined forces with other local foundations and organizations to raise necessary funding to open and operate buildings, conduct research and evaluate ties with the economic development needs of the region. Thanks to the Ross Foundation's work through Tres Ross, WV Forward’s research scholar, Sarah Surber, the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation's Marian Clowes and others, a mapping of West Virginia's 1,536 childcare providers in the state will better inform how best to implement systemic change that may help solve West Virginia’s dependent care puzzle. This is just one step in forging solutions that allow more parents and grandparents to get to their jobs knowing their children are safe. More information on this effort will be shared each month. Tell us your ideas or stand-out efforts.