My oldest niece was telling me about her situation. She is a 39 year-old bartender with 2 girls and was laid off in Mid-March. Her youngest daughter has downs syndrome and is in a high-risk category. My niece was struggling with how she was going to get out and shop and get healthy meals for her girls while she files for unemployment, helps home school and manages her own mortgage, bills and expenses. When she found out that the elementary school was providing breakfast, lunch and snack in grab-and-go from the bus she was immediately relieved. Her daughter is happy to see her favorite bus driver each morning and my niece was able to spend her time and focus on her unemployment application and helping the kids with their home school assignments. The school staff was relieved to be able to keep their cafeteria team and others working and helping the kids they know and serve. They know that when the kids come back, they will be healthier and more prepared to continue learning.
Our daycare was nervous about the COVID-19 virus and what that meant for their staff, teachers, business, etc. Rather than having parents withdraw children or requiring full payment when kids were not attending, they came up with a creative solution. They decided to offer Zoom classes for the kids 3X/week and parents are asked to pay 1/2 tuition for these classes. By continuing to pay, I’m not only helping a small business in my community (which makes me feel good) but I’m also helping the teachers continue to collect a paycheck. And with all their hard work throughout the year, I’m happy to be supportive and show my appreciation. Plus, the Zoom classes are helping my children stay connected to their friends, continue their education, and learn about technology. And it’s helping me learn activities to help them at home (today our homework is to collect a leaf, draw the leave, and write the parts of a leaf – hey I think I’m learning too). What a wonderful solution for all.
