It was a privilege to hear directly from WNY Women’s Foundation CEO Sheri Scavone about the state of child care in our region and her work in that area to support women and families.
I learned so much from this conversation and came away with seeing it as a two-fold challenge. On one side, there is a need for economic resources to increase availability, access and affordability of child care. Additionally, child (and all) care workers need to be paid a fair wage that reflects how important this work is. That piece leads me to the other challenge which I see as a changing of hearts and minds. The reality is that care giving still has a way to go in the US as far as being seen and invested in as critical economic and societal infrastructure- though post pandemic it is more obvious than ever before. Asking Sheri why this work isn’t valued more highly, she links it back to sexism and racism.
The good news is that there is evidence of progress and there are supporters in Erie county working hard on this issue.
Sheri has both the data and the experience to speak to all of this and I hope that you’ll listen to the episode and then stay connected to the latest work in our community and state to support child care and families. Maybe even advocate for child care solutions yourself at your place of work? See the link below to connect with and support the WNY Women's Foundation.
https://wnywomensfoundation.org/