Networks Northwest got some extra funding recently that they hope could bring more childcare options to the region.
“I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that we’re in a childcare crisis,” Networks Northwest Chief Program Officer, Jessica Willis, admits.
Networks Northwest Received a $150,000 grant from the Early Childhood Investment Corporation’s Childcare Innovation Fund, which they plan to use to create a Regional Childcare Planning Coalition.
The coalition will allow them to team up with the other 10 counties in Northwest Michigan to provide more options for childcare and grow the childcare talent pipeline.
Willis says the grant and the creation of the coalition will go a long way at solving the childcare crisis in Northwest Michigan.
“The grant runs through mid-June 2024, and by the time we get there we hope to have an action plan that can really help us expand current provider capacity, or help new existing childcare facilities to open,” Willis says.
They say they will be working with local municipalities in the 10-county region to figure out what policies can be put in place that will help expand childcare in the region.
