Act now to expand child care funding in Kent County!
After months of work by Together West Michigan, the Kent County Commission is considering allowing voters to support an expansion of the Ready by 5 millage to:
-Support child care and early childhood providers in order to keep them in the field and increase the number of providers.
-Help providers access already available funds that would relieve financial pressure both on providers and families.
We need you to contact your County Commissioner today to let them know you support this expansion and want the opportunity to vote on it!
Add your name to the petition below today!
I urge you to allow Kent County voters the opportunity to vote on an expanded Ready by Five Millage, specifically to support early childhood education (ECE) providers through:
- Navigation services for child care professionals, center directors and home providers, helping them access local, state and federal funding and navigate the grant application process.
- Convenient and affordable training and certification of an age, race and culturally diverse pool of early childhood providers
- Programs that recruit and support home providers of all backgrounds, with help to set up and maintain their business, as well as mentoring from experienced providers on how to be successful.
I am proud to live in a community that takes action to solve its own problems. The creation of our Ready by 5 Millage, the first of its kind in Michigan, is an example and model for our state. Innovative, successful local models that implement the kinds of proposed programming above, like the Hands Connected program, have been built and supported with the help of this millage. These things are proof that our community has the imagination and commitment to take action for the well-being of our residents.
Providers focused on 0-3 years old are a critical part of our early childhood education (ECE) structure and must be the focus of a millage expansion. Finding quality ECE that is affordable is one of the biggest challenges for families and a key to the development and well-being of our youngest community members. With an expansion of the millage, we can help grow the local ECE workforce, streamline and reduce costs of back-end services so child care business owners can spend their time on quality care and education, and help families navigate child care resources.
I urge you to give voters the opportunity in 2024 to expand the Kent County Ready by Five millage for these purposes and so support the flourishing of our children, families, educators, businesses, and community.
