County Executive Dave Somers (at podium) speaks at the Rise Up Academy in south Everett to announce $7.6 million in funding being given to add more child care countywide.
EVERETT — County Executive Dave Somers announced Thursday that the county is spreading $7.6 million to six organizations that will add some 360 more slots for preschool and child care serving generations of youngsters.
He spoke from the playground of south Everett’s Rise Up Academy, a funding recipient which is undertaking a capital campaign to build a three-story center with classrooms on the first floor and two stories of affordable housing above.
Five of the six projects add affordable child care in
places that have been termed “child care deserts,” where services are lacking. Everett and Lynnwood are among these deserts.
A year of child care for a toddler in Snohomish County costs more than $14,000, or more than a year of tuition at the University of Washington, according to the county. Lack of child care is not just an inconvenience but “a block for many people to work,” Somers said.
The COVID-19 pandemic only worsened the situation as some licensed child care providers closed shop.
A county press release cites that “according to Child Care Aware, there are 62 slots of child care in the county for every 100 infants, toddlers, or preschoolers whose parents work, far below the state average of 79 slots per 100 children.”
Rise Up’s director, The Rev. Paul Stoot, said the county’s grant is not just money but “represents a tremendous opportunity to shape lives” and take the academy to new heights. They’re building a new center that grows the academy from 75 classroom seats to 165, Stoot said, and have raised about $3.5 million of its $24 million capital campaign so far.
The other five projects make headway to add space, too.
The Edmonds Boys & Girls Club will construct a new building to add 50 slots. The nonprofit is already working on city permits, Chief Operating Officer Marci Volmer said.
Camp Fire will retrofit a space to add 14 slots at Camp Killoqua in Stanwood. It should open by spring 2025, the nonprofit’s director Krissy Davis said.
Housing Hope’s center on Evergreen Way in Everett, the Tomorrow’s Hope Child Development Center, will add “136 to 142 new child care slots,” the county said, while the Latino Educational Training Institute in Lynnwood will create a space that has 20 child care slots and Volunteers of America will add classroom space at a Lynnwood center to serve 62 children.
The county focused its funding on child care expansions that primarily serve low- and moderate-income households. Each funding contract commits each organization to keep these child care slots open and affordable for 20 years after they are built.
The money the county is distributing comes from the $160 million it was awarded in federal COVID-19 stimulus money it received.
Increasing child care ranked as a re-occurring key need in public opinion meetings held last year on where to direct stimulus money.
The one-time money will seed the expansions, but the county will not be subsidizing the programs after that, county officials said.
Fifteen organizations applied, said the head of the county’s office that administrates stimulus funding. One priority for funding was shovel-ready projects.
