By Kathy Benjamin from Moorhead, Minnesota
I am a single parent of three children. All three were in daycare at one point. I was already receiving child care assistance from the state which helped tremendously, but the bill I received after child care assistance was applied was still very high! In fact, I was looking into changing to a different day care because of the amount it took from me – which meant my children would lose the great care they were receiving. Thanks to an early learning scholarship, I did not have to move my kids out of their current child care!
My younger two children are still in that amazing place where they get all the benefits of school-aged children, plus they’re able to maintain the relationships they had grown up with. All of the outside field trips and activities offered by our day care are definitely an added bonus! Receiving an early learning scholarship allowed us to stay in one place and form close ties with our child care. I‘m now even a member of the Parent Committee and I’m able to be of service to our child care.
I’m just beyond appreciative of the child care assistance and early learning scholarship programs. Having access to these programs, allowed me to grow in life myself. I have been promoted to a management position which allows me to make more money to better support my children, and I have also been able to enroll in school. Before these programs, I always found myself stressing on how to make ends meet. One of my biggest fears was having to remove my kids from a day care setting that they felt comfortable with, and one that I approved of. I now have that peace of mind thanks to these programs!
