Some Child Care Providers Call It Quits, Despite Billions In Federal Aid Designed To Keep Them OperatingSilke O’Donnell wasn't planning on retiring so soon from the career she loved as a day care provider. But after 27 years, and 15 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, she shut down Sunshine Family Daycare in Madison just before the Memorial Day weekend.
Silke O'Donnell, center, helps children at her daycare do a craft Monday, May 10, 2021, in Madison, Wis.The child care industry was struggling prior to COVID-19 and the stay-at-home orders that caused many people to shift to at-home work, said Wisconsin Department of Children and Families Secretary Emilie Amundson.
explaining the state was nearing a"crisis point" where a third of providers were on the verge of no longer operating. Since opening her day care center in 1993, O’Donnell sought to create an"environment that nurtured creative thinking in the leaders of tomorrow" for"For past 27 years I have committed half my slots to low-income families and my private pay families understand the importance of having their children with low-income children because this is our real world," she said."We have such a diversity of cultures and economics.
WPR They took the forgivable loans and pulled the plug. There were probably a lot of failing companies who did the same. I bet some folks even started company’s only to secure free money.
WPR It’s like taking a year off from college. Many people don’t go back. I think that will be the case for any long held profession. A fresh start is enticing.