After an on-the-go summer of travel, adventure, and family time, it’s time to start planning for fall, and that means back-to-school. The last thing parents need weighing them down as preparations begin for another school season is finding quality care for your babies who haven’t entered grade school yet. Unfortunately, most parents find childcare to be a major stressor. One Colorado-based startup, MyVillage, founded by two working moms, aims to change the status quo by helping qualified, loving early childhood educators open exceptional home-based programs.
This is a sponsored post for MyVillage.
Right now, a majority of Colorado families struggle to find quality, low-cost early education for children ages 0-5. Just in time for back-to-school, MyVillage is offering local families the chance to win a year of free childcare, valued at more than $13,000! All you have to do is submit a one-minute video sharing your childcare struggles, and you could win the gift of a year of free childcare. That would make this school season’s planning easier and give you even more time (not to mention budget!) to spend on what really counts—your family. The contest begins Aug. 12 and ends Aug. 26, with the winning family announced on Thursday, Sept. 5. Submit your video here.
Childcare costs more than college tuition in a majority of states, including Colorado, where infant care is 60% more than public university tuition. In Colorado, less than 10% of placements are considered high quality and fail to meet basic licensing standards. This forces many workers, mostly women, to make the tough choice of returning to their job or staying home to provide care.
There’s no shortage of Coloradans who understand that the struggle is real when it comes to finding high-quality childcare you can trust. Even if you don’t live in Colorado, submit a video on behalf of a friend or relative there to give them the chance at a stress-free back-to-school. The only contest requirement is that families live in Colorado and have at least one child in the home by September 1, 2019.
MyVillage’s co-founders understand that the struggle to find childcare is real and deeply personal. Co-founder and CFO Elizabeth Szymanski remembers the gut-punch she felt when she moved to the Front Range with her infant, Evie five years ago. She needed to go back to work, but the only quality childcare options had waitlists of one to two years, meaning she would have needed to get on before she’d conceived or even moved to Colorado.
Fed up with the reality of finding quality childcare in her community, Beth teamed up with her friend and fellow entrepreneur Erica Mackey, who was going through the same struggle in Bozeman, Montana. Together they launched MyVillage to give families better options in the form of high quality accessible, affordable in-home infant and toddler care.
“At MyVillage, we have your back, whether you are a hard-working parent struggling to find care, or an early childhood educator in our community,” said Szymanski. “During this stressful back-to-school season, gifting a year of high-quality early childhood education to one Colorado family was a great way to spotlight the need to increase the number of quality providers in our state.”
If you or someone in your village is looking for quality childcare, MyVillage currently offers exceptional home-based programs for young children in Aurora, Brighton, Colorado Springs, Denver Metro, Eagle County, and Glenwood Springs. More locations are opening each week, and the contest winner can use the tuition waiver anytime over the next 12 months.
MyVillage also offers support for education-forward professionals who are looking for alternative career options outside of the traditional office setting. Part of the Colorado-based company’s structure is to help people start in-home childcare businesses where they can earn 30-50% more than the average wage for childcare workers. Whether you’re an experienced educator or just have a passion for working with kids, MyVillage offers support for you along your way into building your career. You can learn more here.
As a parent, one of the most important things to me is to know that when my children aren’t with me they are being supported and cared for. That allows me to make the time when we’re together free from stress and filled with love. So grab your cameras, share your story, and get back to spending more time with your family—thanks to MyVillage, back-to-school solutions for infants and toddlers are covered.
