ELWOOD, NE – Elwood childcare providers, businesses, and community members have collaborated with Community 4 Kids to help fill the needs of the community when it comes to early childhood education and childcare.
A study done by Nebraska Public Power District and First Five Nebraska helped shed some light on the need for child care options in both Frontier and Gosper Counties.
It was found that between the two counties, the need for childcare exceeds the available supply.
Other areas the study focused on was the effect it had on working parents, on business, and on county taxable sales. It ultimately boiled down to finding, “when gaps in child care availability result in lower family income, it reduces parents’ ability to purchase goods and services for household needs. This means
Frontier and Gosper Counties businesses earn less revenue, lowering their business productivity, ability to compensate workers and create employment opportunity. This reduces employers’ ability to generate further economic activity by doing business with other vendors—whose productivity and profits decrease in turn.”
The study goes on to say, with the “Lack of options for stable, reliable child care take a heavy toll on Frontier and Gosper County area working parents and employers—over $1.1 million annually— and an over $55,000 loss of taxable retail sales.”
In an effort to help fill the gap for families in Elwood and it’s surrounding communities, Elwood childcare providers, Elwood Public Schools, businesses, and community members have collaborated with the Community 4 Kids Initiative.
Not only was their a gap in available childcare options, but ZoBeth Potter, Director of the Little Angels Christian Child Care Center in Elwood says facilities were not continuing to stay structurally sound to continue to be putting updates in them.
Potter says those facility needs are what got the ball rolling.
Potter adds that not only does fulfilling the needs of childcare in the community help families, it helps economically as well.
Some short term goals Potter and the team has is for everyone in the Elwood area who has kids, going to have kids, or has already raised their kids, to take their survey to tell their team what the community would like to see with childcare options in the area. The survey will also give them a better number on how much more is needed to fill the gap.
For more information on what Elwood Community 4 Kids is working on and to find the survey go to the Elwood Community 4 Kids Facebook page.
