Report from NAFCC

Sue Williamson, President-elect of the National Association for Family Child Care has shared with Exchange the following messages from NAFCC members

Hi everyone-

I just want to share with you what we here in Tennessee are doing.

We are now receiving displaced families all along the southern borders of our state. We just received word from our licensing department (DHS) that they have developed special emergency care guidelines for any licensed home or center to follow when enrolling a children from Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. We had over 1,000 families to show up in Memphis this week looking for a new temporary home.

Our state family child care Alliance has launched a Baby Care Package (BCP) campaign. We are collecting extra day care supplies that we all have doubles and triple of and making up the BCP. This weekend, my family and I are meeting here at my home to gather up ALL the daycare supplies I have been hording (I kept enough stuff from my daycare days in case I ever went back to providing care) and making as many Baby Care Packages as we can. Our plan is to provide any of our FCC providers who enroll a family in their daycare with a BCP that will be given the family to take home (their homes right now is in church fellowship halls, Red Cross building and such). Anyway, we want to make sure the children will have something they can call their own. We are also making sure our providers get extra equipment they might need to care for the extra children. We already have providers opening second shifts so that the parents who can only find job during non-traditional hours will have somewhere for their children to go. We have contacted the Red Cross to let them know that the FCC providers in their area are ready and willing to do their part! We have contacted and are using our 11 TN CCR&R’s to help provide services to these families. Our licensing staff is helping providers understand the emergency care guidelines so that they, the provider, do not do anything that will jeopardize the health and safety of the children.

We may not be able to meet everyone’s needs, but at least we are doing something! I am so proud to be part of the FCC community! It is times likes this when the provider in all of us must fill the need to nurture and care for all children!

Out of the actions of our (all providers not just the ones here TN) providers I know someone will come up with the most perfect conference theme! Just look around you, FCC providers are stepping up to meet the needs of our global family!

I am sorry I have not been in contact with you all, but I have been busy getting our Baby Care Package off the ground. Oh, one more thing…we are providing the Red Cross with contact numbers of our Regional Reps who will then contact their regional leaders who will then contact local leaders who have BCP’s ready for families who may not need child care but may need something warm and cuddly to hold while they cry themselves to sleep!

Aloha-Daphne

Dear friends:

I know that every single one of us has been affected by Katrina, some obviously much more than others. We’ve heard that Pilar’s brother is serving the victims now, and I know that many, many of you were in the path one way or another of this tragic storm. It will take a very long time before anything even close to “normal” is restored to families living in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Texas, and many other areas of our country.
Like many of you I am feeling a tremendous need to help--to reach out and make a difference in the lives of these people so deeply affected by the destruction. I know that there is little I can do beyond making a donation to the Red Cross and kneeling before God and praying for the safe keeping of those who are suffering. But during this time of feeling frustrated that I cannot do more, I am inspired by the words of Helen Keller. “Though I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the one thing I can do.”  And this idea came to me. While it’s a meager offering of help it could make a big difference in the lives of some families and some children.

Let me share with you my idea. I am not suggesting that NAFCC undertake this effort. I am willing to do it myself, but I naturally thought of all of you as great resources to share this idea with. But should the idea grow in any shape I will gladly accept any help I can receive and should NAFCC choose to adopt this effort, well, even better.
As family child care providers we know the reality of what happens in times like these. Well, maybe we don’t because many of us have not ever experienced times like these. But I can imagine, as I’ve seen organizations work to find housing for displaced families, that in the days ahead there will be many people filling the role of caregiver to many families with children by welcoming these families into their homes for shelter--much like we as family child care providers do everyday.

While it can in no way ever be enough, there will be organizations providing food and supplies to many families to meet their very basic needs. The gap I could see where I could make a difference would be doing what I do best—taking care of the needs of the children. I would somehow like to organize in the days ahead (not now because people are not settled enough to even get to), I would like to round up donations of things that children are going to be needing aside from other physical survival needs.

I would like to compile care packages of donations of books, crayons, paper, teddy bears, play dough, dolls, cars, etc.—to meet the emotional survival needs of children in the aftermath of this devastation. I would count on our network of friends to spread the word about availability and help in getting the packages to the families in need. Many homes will be transformed, if only temporarily, into family child care homes.

I know in comparison to the need that exists at the moment this seems almost pointless. But I believe that if it’s able to happen, it will come when families need an extra boost. When other resources are dwindling, as they will, our package could really help a child feel like they’ve not been forgotten. And for providers for whom they’ve lost so much, we could help them with other needs as well to help them get back in business.

My husband mentioned what his company was doing for its employees who were affected and it came to me that as family child care providers no one else is going to help them get back to business. There should be something I can do. And so, while I know I cannot do everything, I cannot refuse to do the one thing I can do. And this I believe I can do. The time will come when it’s appropriate to send this help and I would like to be able to do at least this much.Very sincerely,

Nikki Darling-Kuria