EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A partnership between the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana and COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund of Greater Evansville is providing child care for parents that need to return to work before school begins.
The Back-To-Work Recovery Childcare Program began after a need was found for child care among businesses calling employees back to on-site work in a five-county survey.
The cost is $99 weekly for YMCA members and $119 weekly for nonmembers for kids 5-9 and $109 and $129 weekly for members and nonmembers respectively for kids 10-12 .
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There will be financial support from the fund for families in need.
The program on Monday started serving children ages 5 to 12. Currently, there are two sites — Crossroads Christian Church for children 5-9 and CK Newsome Center for children 10-12. Programming runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, although children can be dropped off as early as 6:30 a.m. and picked up as late as 5:30 p.m. to accommodate work schedules.
“With schools and child care centers closed across the country, 60 percent of U.S. parents say they’ve had no outside childcare during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey from Boston Consulting Group,” according to the YMCA’s website. “Instead, millions have spent the duration attempting to work from home while also caring for kids, with varying levels of success.
“Even as the state of Indiana reopens and life begins to return to a new normal, it could be harder than ever to find quality care.”
The YMCA is “intentional about creating an active learning environment under supervision of qualified professional staff,” according to the program description. “We focus on the social and emotional learning of participants so as to foster a well-balanced child. We also provide educational enrichment on a daily basis using the Think Stretch Curriculum reinforcing academic achievement on an age-appropriate level for the participants.”
There will be new STEM-inspired themes each week with a number of different activities focusing on academic support, character development and physical fitness and nutrition.
To register for the program or for more information visit ymcaswin.org/child-care-camp/back-to-work-recovery-childcare-program/.
