DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — A crowd gathered in Durham at Forest Hills Park Monday evening in an effort to rally for childcare support.
“There’s not support, there was no money coming in, and without the money you can’t stay open,” said Frances Garth, who was among the dozens in attendance.
About a year ago, Garth said the lack of funding forced her sister to close their daycare facility in Durham called “The Children’s Room.”
“The caring, the giving, the help and supporting… she extends herself and goes out of her way for these families who need that extension of care,” Garth said.
Danielle Caldwell with the National Domestic Workers Alliance helped organize the rally.
“From going out in the field and speaking to home base and center care, sometimes parents come and they have to turn them away,” Caldwell said. “You can make more money working at McDonalds and at Walmart, even with a college education and advanced degrees, even up to a PhD, and still those wages are persistently low.”
Caldwell said childcare workers across the country average $13-$14 per hour. She said low wages are leading to more facilities dealing with staffing shortages and having to close classrooms. It’s not just affecting these facilities, Caldwell said, but families too.
“If they don’t have childcare, they can’t work. If childcare workers don’t work, the rest of the country doesn’t work,” said Caldwell. “We are essential and we are part of the infrastructure of society.”
Susan Nobblitt said it’s a challenge her family experienced first-hand.
“We went to every center that we knew in Durham and most of them had waitlists of up to 12 months or longer,” Nobblitt said.
Nobblitt, now with a toddler and another child on the way, said it required her husband to quit his job for two years.
“What we looked for were home-based options, which tended to be more available and flexible, but even those were hard to find.”
Nobblitt said the family has since found another childcare center and her husband has returned back to work; however, Nobblitt said it’s come with a cost.
“I’m paying more than I pay for my mortgage for childcare per month,” said Nobblitt. “My childcare is $1,500 a month — for one child!”
Caldwell said for many families, childcare is not an option and passion doesn’t pay the bills. She said it’s time to look at a more permanent investment to support childcare in North Carolina.
“Right now, we have a surplus in our state budget for a rainy-day fund — it’s raining,” said Caldwell. “If we don’t get the funding, they’re asking for $300 million to continue the stabilization grant. Governor Roy Cooper asked for $275 million in this budget. If we don’t get that, 1,500 childcare sites across the state might close.”
Caldwell said the rally comes ahead of a statewide ‘Day Without Childcare’ event. On May 16, Caldwell said childcare providers plan to close their centers for the day to call legislators to take action when pandemic-era grants expire this summer.
