Throughout this crisis, we have celebrated essential workers – those brave souls who have faced the threat of coronavirus on an almost daily basis so that everyone else could safely stay at home practicing social distancing to stem the pandemic.
But what happens to essential workers with small children? Who is there to take care of their sons or daughters while they were busy taking care of the rest of us.
Due to COVID-19, more than 80 percent of licensed child care centers in Flagstaff were forced to close. Those that remained open had to operate far below capacity, collecting less revenue while simultaneously facing greater operational expenses.
That is why the United Way of Northern Arizona recently provided grants through its COVID-19 Fund to both the Flagstaff Family YMCA and the Association for Supportive Child Care (ASCC).