MVYouth recently announced $150,000 in relief awards to support early childcare providers on the Island that have been affected by the state-mandated closure period, according to a press release.
The money comes from the Martha’s Vineyard Early Childcare Providers Emergency Fund, which MVYouth seeded with $50,000 in mid-April after assessing the impact that mandatory closures would have on the Island’s 20 early childcare providers.
Three MVYouth founders, the Couch Family Foundation, Ziff Family Foundation, and Mary and Jerome Vascellaro, contributed to the fund, as did the Martha’s Vineyard Bank Charitable Foundation. A grant from the Commonwealth Children’s Fund was also received to specifically support the home-based providers.
“Working families are under enormous financial and emotional stressors as a result of the forced pandemic-related closures,” said Martha’s Vineyard Bank Charitable Foundation president and director James Anthony in the release. “Having access to their regular childcare is imperative as they return to work, so they may normalize their lives as soon as possible.”
Martha’s Vineyard has 20 licensed childcare programs — nine center-based programs, and 11 home-based providers. Together these programs serve roughly 380 young children.
MVYouth executive director Lindsey Scott told The Times they analyzed all the childcare programs’ operating expenses, and identified funding gaps that things like Paycheck Protection Program loans and unemployment would not cover.
“Childcare is the backbone of a functioning workforce. The circumstances around COVID-19 have magnified this issue surrounding quality child care,” Scott said.