by BillieJo Barrios
As a single mom with a 5-year-old and 16-year-old, with no child support, living in King County, where rents don’t stop skyrocketing, I wanted to say “yes” to my teenage daughter when she asked to go to cross-country camp with her track team.
Continue reading OPINION | Making a Difference for King County Families With Child Care Subsidiesby Guy Oron
(This article was originally published on Real Change and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
On March 24, the Washington Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the capital gains tax passed by the Legislature in 2021 is legal, paving the way for new funds to go toward education. The tax is due on April 18 and applies to anyone who makes more than $250,000 from sales of investment assets.
Continue reading Washington Supreme Court Greenlights Capital Gains Tax on Wealthy to Pay for Early Education, Child Careby Sally James
Children at the Tiny Tots Development Center preschool in South Seattle’s Othello neighborhood have some new ways of learning after the center created a “nature” playground designed to stretch their imaginations. The center was dedicated Sept. 8.
Continue reading Othello Child-Care Center Invests in ‘Nature’ Playgroundby Jennifer Astion
(This article was originally published on Real Change and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
In Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change, Angela Garbes examines why “American life is not working for families.” Child rearing, Garbes writes, is “a social responsibility, one that requires robust community support. The pandemic revealed that mothering is the only truly essential work humans do. Without people to care for our children, we are lost.” Essential Labor makes a compelling argument for valuing mothering through both personal stories and social critique.
Continue reading ‘Normal Is Unacceptable’: Seattle Author Angela Garbes on Parenting Through the Pandemicby Agueda Pacheco Flores
When temperatures started hitting 100 degrees last summer, Lois Martin knew it didn’t matter how many fans she had running — the Community Day Center for Children (CDCC) in the Central District would have to close.
Continue reading Central District Child Care Center Takes On Climate Changeby Sally James
On a recent tour of the new Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) in Othello, artist Ari Glass came to see his own colorful work inside.
Along with creating a multistory mural for the clinic, Glass is also a father whose 4-year-old son is a patient at the existing clinic on Yesler. The new site operated by Seattle Children’s will open gradually over several weeks, with the first patients arriving on March 7.
Continue reading Inside the New Othello Odessa Brown Children’s Cliniccurated by Emerald Staff
This year’s “T’Challaween: A Tribute to Our Heroes & Role Models” will take place on Saturday, Oct. 30, from 1–4 p.m. and will feature a one-mile, socially distant, COVID-safe costume parade along the Beacon Hill Greenway from South College Street to the South Spokane Street entrance to Jefferson Park on Beacon Hill. Candy tossers will be stationed along the way to load up paraders with sweetness! (Masks will be required again this year.)
Last year, the community turned out to make our inaugural event possible and we need your help to make it happen again! We have multiple volunteer opportunities, including volunteer coordination, candy tossers, event ambassadors, floaters, set-up/tear-down crew, and there’s even still room on the planning committee and plenty to do! Shoot us an email to come on board.
We also have sponsorship opportunities for small and large businesses and organizations. Get your name/logo on T’Challaween promotional materials — physical and digital — mentions in articles from the South Seattle Emerald and tags on our social media channels where we’ll also link to your website. We’ll do everything we can to make sure the whole world knows that we couldn’t have done this without your support! Email us today to inquire about sponsoring T’Challaween 2021! Last year’s partners and sponsors included Rainier Avenue Radio, The Station, Bar del Corso, Converge Media, Beacon Business Alliance, Beacon Hill Council, Urban Feed & Garden, Jump Start (organizational development services), Beacon Arts, Practically Apparent, Feed the People Plaza, Hello Bicycle, and the ACLU of Washington.
Continue reading NEWS GLEAMS: Help Out at T’Challaween 2021, Child Care Financial Assistance, & Moreby Samira George
(This article originally appeared on RealChange and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
Long before the global pandemic, the United States had woefully underinvested in the child care industry. The government directs only a small percent of funding toward child care compared with the whole U.S. education system, according to Ryan Pricco, the director of Policy & Advocacy at Tacoma-based nonprofit Child Care Aware Washington.
“Child care educators themselves make less money than parking lot attendants and pet groomers. They rank in the third percentile of all occupational wages in Washington,” Pricco said.
Continue reading Underinvestment Leaves Child Care Providers Strugglingcurated by Emerald Staff
From Alert Seattle: “The National Weather Service has issued an Excessive Heat Warning for Seattle due to forecasted high temperatures above 90 degrees. The warming trend will begin Wednesday and continue through Saturday. Cooling centers will be available across the city, and outreach teams are on the ground working with our most vulnerable residents to prevent heat illness in these extreme conditions. You can find a map of locations here.”
Continue reading NEWS GLEAMS: Vaccines Required, Child Care Aid, Heat Wave 2.0, Low-Income Housing, & More!by Senator Patty Murray
Every day for the past year, I’ve heard from families across Washington State about just how hard this year has been. Single moms who were struggling to find quality affordable child care for their kids because the pandemic has closed down so many child care centers. Hardworking parents who were laid off because of COVID-19 and are unable to make ends meet. Kids who struggled to adapt to online learning. Grandparents raising their grandchildren who were afraid to send them to school for fear of bringing home the virus. When I hear from communities of color, I hear about how long-standing inequities made the effects of the pandemic even more dire.
Every day for the past year, I’ve heard these stories, and I’ve taken them with me back to the other Washington to fight for all our state’s families and make sure no community gets left behind. After a year of Republicans saying “no” to the kind of bold relief families in Washington State have been demanding for months — and after voters in Washington State and across the country made their voices heard in November and January — Democrats have finally passed a bill that begins to acknowledge the scope and scale of the crisis Washington State families have been facing.
Continue reading OPINION: Help Is Here for Washington State Families With the American Rescue Plan
