For years employers and parents have raised concerns about the lack of childcare in Douglas County, but now a coalition has been formed to help those who look after the children.

“The lack of childcare has long been a major concern, but has gotten worse since the start of COVID-19,” said Kelly Heichel of Kelly’s Kid Care.

Heichel, who has run her business for 22 years, benefited from the support of the Douglas County Childcare Coalition. She has four employees and space for 16 children each, and said the financial impact of COVID-19 has been significant.

“In the first two months of COVID-19, I lost $ 20,000 in income because fewer children were allowed to be looked after,” said Heichel. “In the past few months, I’ve been able to fall back on 65% of my normal income, but I’m still not working to full capacity.”

She said the supplies and grants offered by the coalition had a tremendous impact on her business, enabling her to keep people busy and provide quality care and training.

The Douglas County Childcare Coalition was formed to respond to the general childcare crisis in the area.

Julie Hurley, Biz4Kids program coordinator in the Douglas Education Service District, and Heather Freilinger, coordinator of care connections and educational programs in the Douglas Education Service District, serve as co-leaders of the coalition. More than 30 organizations are involved in the partnership, including corporations, nonprofits and public institutions.

“These efforts have helped the partners to understand our need for childcare from different perspectives, all of which influence the allocation of resources, the COVID response, the advocacy of the state and the identification of the challenges we face,” said Freilinger.

The coalition began in response to the pandemic, and by October the group was able to distribute 800 rolls of paper towels, nearly 25,000 paper plates and trays, 80 gallons of bleach, 50 bottles of disinfectant spray, 100 packs of disinfectant wipes and tons of pens. Pens, colored pencils, markers and glue sticks with the help of funding from the district.

“The county bought all the supplies they needed: cleaning supplies, paper products, school supplies, some technological stuff,” Hurley said.

The city of Roseburg provided grants of US $ 30,000 for childcare workers, which were distributed among five companies that applied for funding.

Cobb Childcare and Preschool was one of the recipients of the scholarships. Jessica Gaul, chief executive officer at Cobb and a member of the coalition, said that being part of the partnership can drive progress, build support systems and present a network that facilitates both access and basic support for quality childcare services.

Hurley said that while responding to COVID-19 has been the coalition’s primary purpose, they hope to have a long-term positive impact on childcare in Douglas County.

Gaul added, “The greatest resource the coalition can offer is to further reaffirm the importance of childcare. As we saw last year, many employees without childcare cannot physically report to work. At the same time, child care is becoming not prioritized as a top choice for job seekers. The more important this important service is, the greater the selection of childcare personnel pool so that we can continue to offer consistent care during and after COVID. “”

Staff, training, advocacy and increasing the number of carers will be important parts of the long-term plan.

In the short term, the Douglas County Childcare Coalition is planning to host a tax workshop for providers as the pandemic is likely to affect the way their taxes must be filed. The coalition also accepts personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, and financial donations to help vendors in the area.

Anyone wishing to donate can contact Hurley at 541-957-4819 or visit the Douglas Education Service District office at 1871 NE Stephens Street in Roseburg.

For those who cannot donate, and for those who can, Freilinger also has some advice: “One thing that is always a great support is to your local teacher, child care worker and early interventionist for looking after the youngest members of our society Thank you We have some great vendors in our community. Let’s celebrate. “

Sanne Godfrey can be reached at [email protected] or 541-957-4203. Follow her on Twitter @sannegodfrey.