Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal | February 20, 2023 | wbjournal.com BY ISABEL TEHAN WBJ Staff Writer A t the end of January, the Worcester child care advocacy nonprofit Edward Street received a $75,000 grant as part of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation's annual allocation to support the region's nonprofits, of which 120 received funding this year. e allocation to Edward Street was the third largest grant in the $2.2 million GWCF gave out this year and represented 20% of the nonprofit's annual revenue. is funding is essential to Edward Street, which serves as an example of early childhood organizations' reliance on foundational funding in the absence of adequate federal funding in a difficult economic model. "Without state and federal investment, the early childhood system will not make it. It will fail in the next few years," said Eve Gilmore, CEO of Edward Street, an early childhood advocacy and workforce development organization that has positioned itself to spur federal intervention into a precarious early childhood system. e grant from the GWCF gives Edward Street $75,000 over two payments. Edward Street reported $374,823 in revenue in 2020, of which $76,111 was from government grants, according to the nonprofit financial tracking service GuideStar. Edward Street's expenses for that year were $464,673, the most recent data available. e entire child care system is in crisis, as rising costs are creating a burden on families while the low pay in the industry is keeping potential workers away. Edward Street's overreliance on foundation funding is illustrative of the tenuous financial position the industry occupies, as efforts to fund child care through government intervention are still in the early stages. Three crises e early childhood system is struggling, based on overlapping factors impacting individual families and big businesses alike. ree concurring crises are tearing the system apart, said Andrew Farnitano, communications consultant at the Common Start Coalition. Started in 2018, the coalition is made up of 150 organizations across the state as well as independent members advocating for access to affordable, high-quality early education and child care in Massachusetts. Issue one is the affordability of child care in Massachusetts, said Farnitano. Costs here are some of the highest in the nation; Massachusetts is ranked as the second most expensive state for child care by the le-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. e average annual Funding child care Worcester nonprofit Edward Street is pushing for structural change in how child care is paid for, as the industry nears a breaking point PHOTOS | COURTESY OF EDWARD STREET F O C U S B A N K I N G & F I N A N C E cost of child care for a 4 year old costs $15,095; infant care is $20,913, according to EPI. e second issue is low pay for educators, who are finding the work they are passionate about does not make a sustainable career. "You see many people who love working in the field leaving to work in public schools, or even in retail," he said. "ey're finding they can make more money working for Amazon or Dunkin' Donuts." Issues one and two are seemingly at odds with each other; if pay increases, costs for families in the form of tuition will increase. is is why the coalition is pushing for federal funding. ey aren't alone. Nationally, there has been a push to examine childcare costs, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced on Feb. 9 new legislation to limit costs for childcare to $10 a day in some cases. e bill, in the very initial stages of its legislative journey, would utilize a sliding scale based on family income. Warren's bill comes in the wake of the failure of President Joe Biden to pass his Build Back Better legislative agenda, which included significant subsidies and tax credits for child care but was dropped in 2022 in favor of slimmer economic legislation. e third issue, said Farnitano, is the availability of care, which is tied to pay for educators. "Centers have enough physical space, but not enough educators for their capacity," he said. As a result, many child care centers are sparsely filled, even as parents are seeking options for their children. "e numbers just don't add up," Farnitano said. A drag on the economy Edward Street is working to increase community awareness of the importance of investment in high-quality early education and care and raise the concern for the issue broadly. e organization takes a two-pronged approach to addressing the overarching problems, both through advocacy and resource development in the form of its Master Teacher Project. e master teacher program is Edward Street's tangible work on the ground. Its goal is to elevate the experience and skills of educators in early childhood centers in the area, which service most high-risk students. is is done through teacher-to-teacher training, in which an experienced teacher observes a classroom and has one-on-one and team meetings with the classroom teacher. e program provides hands-on training to elevate the expertise of the classroom teacher and enrich the educational experience for Edward Street master teacher Jo Ann Borinski working with children in a YWCA Central Massachusetts classroom.

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