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- [00:01]
Gloria Rivera
What if Childcare Worked for Everyone? Neighborhood Villages is working to transform the early education system through direct service programs and bold policy change. From operating professional development programs for educators to investing in early education curriculum to offering wraparound supports for families, Neighborhood Villages is a nonprofit building a child care system that works for children, families, and the educators who care for them. A system is possible. Come see how at www.NeighborhoodVillages.org hey everyone. First off, we want to thank you for listening to no One Is Coming to Save Us. And now we want to hear from you what you've learned, what's sticking with you, what questions you still have, and what you're motivated to do as a result of listing Right now, you can take our short survey to help us better understand the impact of our work. And even better, once you've completed the survey, you can enter for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card. The survey is short and sweet, I promise, and it will really help us keep bringing you content you love. Take the survey at Bit Ly Noonesurvey that's Bit Ly Noonesurvey. Thanks again.
- [01:22]
Megan
Hi, I'm Megan and I've got a new podcast I think you're going to love. It's called Confessions of a Female Founder, a show where I chat with female entrepreneurs and friends about the sleepless nights, the lessons learned, and the laser focus that got them to where they are today. And through it all, I'm building a business of my own and getting all sorts of practical advice along the way that I'm so excited to share with you. Confessions of a Female Founder is out now. Listen wherever you get your podcast.
- [01:58]
Gloria Rivera
Lemonada.
- [02:02]
Lauren Kennedy
We were both pregnant and we were due at about the same time, and we were both very privileged to have paid maternity leave. And when you have your baby at the end of December, that leave can be a bit grim.
- [02:25]
Gloria Rivera
On one of those dark New England winter days back in 2016, Lauren Kennedy and her friend Sarah Muncie were sitting together on Sarah's couch, tired, of course.
- [02:36]
Lauren Kennedy
And holding their babies, crying, breastfeeding me. Learning a lot from Sarah because this was her second baby. And really that opportunity to share community with each other and also at the same time to get fired up that as two women in a privileged position, we're finding it so hard. So hard to even get started with what childcare was going to be for us. So hard to wrap our heads around how we were going to do parenting on top of working.
- [03:10]
Gloria Rivera
Sounds about right. You do go a little crazy trying to figure it Out. I distinctly remember being blindsided and bewildered when we totally missed the deadline to apply for nursery schools. It was just not on our radar. And that's the thing. If working moms like me, Lauren and Sarah are struggling to figure it all out and we're the lucky ones, with maternity leave and more resources than most, then we really are in a crisis, aren't we? Sitting on that couch together, Lauren and Sarah looked at each other and thought the same. This is way too hard. Something's gotta change.
- [03:52]
Lauren Kennedy
And really, in that moment, recognizing, hey, I come with some skills and background and you come with some skills and background. How can we team up to really run at this childcare crisis unapologetically? And let's do this thing.
- [04:07]
Gloria Rivera
I'm Gloria Rivera, and this is no One Is Coming to Save Us, a show about the child care crisis in America. This season, we're talking about what the child care system needs to look like. A system that we demand to have. Last week, we looked at why childcare needs to be accessible. With no more wait lists, no more childcare deserts, no more trade offs. This week, we're digging into our fourth and final demand. We need a supportive childcare system. Because we all deserve a system that goes beyond basic education requirements for our youngest learners. A system that meets the critical needs of kids, their families, and the childcare workforce in a comprehensive way. As a parent, you can feel it in your bones when childcare is guaranteed high quality and accessible. Supportive is a little fuzzier and some might be skeptical. That's why we're turning to experts to show us the way. Because if you don't work in this world, it can be hard to picture. But trust me, the second you see it and hear it in action, it clicks. A supportive system is one that really cares about the kiddos and their caregivers. From parents to educators. Bottom line, we demand a system that holds all of us. And our guests today are proving that it's not only possible, it's something we need to start doing right. Lauren, Sarah, Hi. Hi, guys.
- [05:42]
Sarah Muncie
Hi. It's so great to see you.
- [05:44]
Gloria Rivera
It's so great to see you both from the couch. All those years ago, Lauren and Sarah went on to found Neighborhood Villages, an organization where a guaranteed high quality, accessible, supportive childcare system is not only an idea, it's their real working on it everyday mission. They advocate for early education and care policy reform and work with caregivers and schools to make it happen. You can think of Neighborhood Villages as proof of concept for what a supportive system could and should look like they're showing all of us that building a supportive system is possible.
- [06:21]
Sarah Muncie
We're not talking about making up something new. We're talking about supporting and wrapping around existing families, childcare centers, family childcare homes, nannies, grandparents, aunties, uncles, famil, friends, neighbors, the existing landscape of childcare in this country. And so the way we do that is we talk to real schools, real teachers, real parents, real families. And we figure out what is stressing them out the most. And so we figure out what's hard, we come up with solutions, we bring them to schools, real schools that are willing to get messy and iterate with us. And we change them. We get really, really collaborative. And I don't mean we change them after a year of evaluation. I that if something didn't go well with the curriculum we gave you this week, we come back to you next week and say, is this what you meant when you gave us the feedback? Does this make it usable in your classroom? What you end up with at Neighborhood Villages are usable solutions. The last thing I'll say that makes, I think, our work so special is that our team speaks a lot of languages and we're willing to interact with childcare providers at any time and through any mechanism that's convenient for them. So if that means that you have a question and it's during nap time that you can text in Portuguese, we're going to answer you in Portuguese during nap time on text. That kind of concierge level service is something that's not often seen in early ed.
- [07:56]
Gloria Rivera
I just love the way you said, we will answer you, we will answer you, we will answer that text. There's a very personal element to the work that Neighborhood Villages does. Another thing that I've noticed maybe in the last two seasons is this expanse to the whole family. And I think we're talking about the whole family as integral to what a truly supportive system looks like. So let's get into that a bit more. How do we build a system that takes into account an entire family's whole ecosystem?
- [08:31]
Sarah Muncie
Sarah? Well, I think of it, everything in my mind is like Tetris, like in my brain, how all the pieces, like fit together. And so I see these four layers and on the bottom, the first layer is the family. And then you have the school or the childcare setting or where whatever they're doing every day to get their child what they need. And then you have sort of the region like the ecosystem that that lives in. And then you have the state, the government, and all four of Those layers need things and want things, but need them in very different ways. And so I'll just say that the way we think of our work is like a LEGO piece. And so we are the LEGO piece. And we have to build the holes on the bottom to fit right into a school that serves real families. It has to fit right in, but we have to build the bumps on the top to fit right into government funding streams and regulation. And if you only focus on the holes or you only focus on the bumps, you won't have a solution that persists.
- [09:37]
Gloria Rivera
Like Sarah's saying, we have to consider all of these layers to support child care. Family schools, the region where you live, and the government, they're all important when it comes to finding child care solutions.
- [09:51]
Sarah Muncie
And so what we do at Neighborhood Villages is we support and listen to the people who support and take care of children. So if you are a parent, if you are a careg, if you are a teacher, a director, you know what families need. When you're a childcare provider, you know, if mom is food insecure, you know, if she's worried about a domestic violence situation, you know, if she doesn't know where she's going to live next month, you know, if she wants to advance in her career, you know. So the first thing we do is try to take everything teachers and centers know about families and give them a place to put it and something to do about it.
- [10:32]
Gloria Rivera
Let me give you an example of what Sarah's talking about. What one part of that supportive system looks like in action. Across the country, over a million children under age 6 were unhoused during the 2020-2021 school year. And shelters often don't have the resources to support families with young children. In Massachusetts, where Neighborhood Villages is based, the shelter system is overwhelmed. 1,500 families have been placed in temporary housing. Within those families, about 5,000 kids are 5 or younger. Neighborhood villages teamed up with AMAL, Alliance Horizons for Homeless Children, and the Healy Driscoll administration to do something about it.
- [11:17]
Sarah Muncie
We all came together, and the most elegant solution was to take these buses that were sitting in New Haven on a lot. They were old and not doing anything, and we bought them very cheap and we made them into these beautiful classrooms.
- [11:35]
Gloria Rivera
Imagine a colorful, painted school bus that pulls up outside shelters across Massachusetts. Inside, all of the seats have been cleared out to create an open play space with floor pillows shaped like flowers and bins filled with toys and craft supplies. This is the Calorie Express, a mobile classroom for kids from unhoused Families who aren't old enough for a regular school yet on board. Teachers lead lessons and support social development.
- [12:05]
Sarah Muncie
And they pull up at a shelter space or anywhere, insert anywhere you need them to pull up and they play ice cream truck music. And the kids come out and for one hour they're on the bus learning, singing, playing, coloring, being silly, a lot of dancing. There's a lot of wiggling and dancing with these incredible early childhood specialists who are providing a play based social emotional curriculum that was designed specifically for kids experiencing displacement. But it's good for any child. And during that hour, their parents get an hour to do whatever they need. And that's super rare when you're living in shelter. To have an hour away from your child is almost never happens.
- [12:52]
Gloria Rivera
And while that is profound to the families who need it, Sarah says it's actually pretty simple in the grand scheme of things.
- [12:59]
Sarah Muncie
It's a small part of what we do. Like, it's a small program in the scope of all of the work we do, but a really good example that this is all doable. The driving sort of mantra in my head that I say 20 times a day is that today someone will go to space for fun. Several people today will pay almost a million dollars for a fun trip to space. So don't tell me that we can't bring diapers to wet butts, and don't tell me that there's like a formula crisis and it's just impossible. None of this is impossible. And so, you know, we were like, of course we can get learning and social emotional services to anywhere. And so, yeah, I think we just sort of live in this realm of anything's possible.
- [13:50]
Gloria Rivera
I think that's how it has to be. When you dream of better ways to support families, you have to live in that realm of anything's possible. When we come back, we'll chat with another guest who's living in that same hopeful space. She's seen the real magic that happens when childcare is supportive for kids, families and educators alike. That's after the break.
- [14:19]
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Hey, Julia, Louie Dreyfuss here. If you listen to me on my Wiser Than Me podcast, you probably already know that I'm an investor and an evangelist for the mill food recycler. There are a lot of reasons to love mill, but for me, it's all about the impact. Keeping food out of the garbage is one of the most powerful things we can do to help the planet. Every single day. We're talking banana peels, carrot tops, old takeout. When that stuff heads to the landfill. It becomes a huge driver of climate change. If you already compost, great. But of course there's the smell, the flies, the running to the curb every day with a little leaking compost bag made of cornstarch. That's where mill comes in. It makes keeping food out of the trash as easy as dropping it in. It can handle nearly anything from a turkey carcass to like 20 avocado pits. It works automatically while you sleep. You can keep filling it for weeks and it never ever smells. Mill makes dry, nutrient rich grounds that you can use in your garden, add to your compost, feed to your chickens, or mill can get them back to a small farm for you. But you kind of have to live with mill to really get it. And that's why they offer a risk free trial. Go to mill.com wiser for an exclusive offer.
- [15:34]
Binal Patel
Let's Celebrate Teachers Join Teach for America, a bold group of change makers working to ensure all kids get the education they need to succeed. And Ripple, a tech company creating greater economic opportunity through transformative crypto and blockchain enterprise solutions in celebrating teachers because teachers don't just impact what children learn. It's the little things teachers do every day that create a chain of possibilities that go far beyond the classroom. That's the TFA Ripple effect and we can't thank teachers enough. So celebrate that teacher who juggles lessons, laughter and lost homework. When you donate to Teach for America today, Ripple will partner to match your gift. Visit teachforamerica.org/r I p p l e to give. That's teachforamerica.org ripple because for our teachers, a little thanks can add up to a lot.
- [16:35]
My daughter asks me all the time what I do for work and I say I fight for a child care system so you don't have to. I want your children to have an accessible, affordable, high quality, supportive system to go to. That's what I do at work every day.
- [16:53]
Gloria Rivera
You can just hear it in Binal Patel's voice. She is beyond passionate about transforming our childcare system, working alongside Sarah and Lauren Beenal is the Chief Program Officer at Neighborhood Villages. She is the perfect person to talk to about how we can create an ecosystem of support for kids, families and educators. So you might be surprised to learn that she was once on a very different path working in marketing. Deep down, something always told her she really wanted to be a teacher. Then she lost someone close to her.
- [17:28]
Binal Patel
In a car crash and I think that was the jump I needed to say, wait, life's too short I have a passion, I have a calling, and I'm gonna go follow it. And I literally, the next day, applied to be a teacher and have never looked back.
- [17:44]
Gloria Rivera
Wow. The next day.
- [17:45]
Binal Patel
Yeah. Life's too short.
- [17:48]
Gloria Rivera
Yeah. You were a woman with a mission. I know that feeling of the before and when you lose someone and how motivating it can be to live every moment. When you made the shift, can you remember what surprised you the most about what you observed, what you saw kids really needing sort of beyond what people might typically think?
- [18:14]
Binal Patel
Yeah. You know, what really surprised me was the education that was happening at such an early age. And I had worked with children before. I had worked with older children, but I went right into preschool and toddlers. I really enjoyed it, and I was really surprised. I had a wonderful director who was my mentor and realized that just playing with children was not my role, that there was education that was happening, there was a facilitation of the learning. There was very specific and curated materials that were being chosen. It was a real skill. And I actually really appreciated my job as an assistant teacher that very first year. I learned so much. I watched the other teachers and the director, and that's when I went back and decided to get my master's degree in early childhood, because I realized there is a real skill that I want to bring to the classroom. There's an education that the children are having at this very young age that is so crucial to their brain development, and I need to know what that is.
- [19:23]
Gloria Rivera
Binal worked her way up to be the director at a child care program in Massachusetts. And that's when her path crossed with Sarah and Lauren. She heard about their idea for an organization that envisioned a child care system that actually understood the infrastructure the child care programs needed. As a director who was literally experiencing that lack of infrastructure, Beenal describes their meeting as fate. Fast forward to today. Beenal is deep in this work, identifying gaps in the system and how we can fill them. I asked her to step outside of the classroom with me, metaphorically speaking, to understand why childcare is so much more than playtime and ABCs. Why must we also address stuff like housing insecurity, health care, and even basic economic needs?
- [20:11]
Binal Patel
It's very challenging. And I know the context of being a family or being a mother in this country, and specifically a working mother, is sort of, you're on your own. You know, you sort of did this to yourself, and now good luck to you in figuring it out. And we really need to build a supportive system around families, around these children, and Especially at this young age. So all of the pieces that you're talking about, the housing, the food insecurity, the mental health needs of children and families who, especially those who are experiencing trauma, needs to be part of the solution. When we're thinking about the childcare system.
- [20:54]
Gloria Rivera
As a whole, I know why looking at basic economic needs now is so important. And we're talking about basic, right? Diapers, winter coats. Why is meeting those basic needs so important in the system as a whole? Right? Because. Also think of me as somewhat of a skeptic. What would you say to someone who says, wait a minute, is that the job of the school to distribute diapers, to distribute winter coats? I mean, it rejiggers the way our culture has been programmed to think about what is provided to. To the people in this country, to the families in this country.
- [21:41]
Binal Patel
And I would just flip that mindset a little bit or turn it on its head of is that the job of the school versus let's think about where the families are and where we can access them to bring the resources to them. I don't think we put that onus on the schools, but actually create the infrastructure and have the schools or the family home care be the place, because that's where families are twice a day. When my children were really, really young, I didn't have the time to go to multiple places. I could barely stay on top of doctor's appointments and dentist appointments and all the things. But I was at their childcare program or their school twice a day, every day. And so when we're thinking about as a society and social justice honestly, and bringing the resources that families and children need at this young, it's about where they are and a place that's accessible to them and a place that they trust. They build relationships with these educators. These educators know them really deeply in a way that their pediatrician often doesn't because they see them once a year. They understand the needs of those children and families. So it's really about access and bringing that access to them.
- [23:00]
Gloria Rivera
You know, you've talked about not wanting to create things that already exist and to just shift that to toddlers and the very young. We know there's a lot of curriculum out there for preschoolers, but my sense from talking to people is that there is a very real gap when it comes to infants and toddlers. Can you unpack with all of your years in this field and what you hope to see in the future, why that gap is so fundamental as a missing piece in early childhood care?
- [23:37]
Binal Patel
Yeah, it's really fascinating, Gloria, if you. One of the core experiences that I had as an educator was working in an infant room. I think oftentimes in our society, you know, you see a baby and don't realize the incredible amount of development that's happening to that brain. They are learning about the world. They're learning about language, they're learning about colors, about senses, about physical mobility, learning how to walk, learning how to crawl. All of that is happening in this very short time period of that infant. And I remember working in this infant room and being surrounded by these babies and seeing that growth happen. The first time a baby holds up their hand. I don't know if you saw this in your own children. It's like they've discovered that they have a hand and they just can't stop staring at it and they're moving it. That brain development happening at that age is phenomenal. And so I think this is pretty new research, if we think about it. The brain development that's happening 0 to 5. When I was a director in my program, like you said, there's a lot of resources that exist for preschool. I think understanding kindergarten and preschool education has been around for a lot longer. In infant and toddler rooms. I would often see teachers defaulting to Pinterest or Google and looking at ideas of classrooms and materials. We just don't have that many resources when it comes to infants and toddlers. And this is an example of something that we had been hearing about from the educators we partner with over and over is where do we go for curriculum for infant and toddler? There's a few things that we can pull from, but there's not a comprehensive curriculum. And this is one of the few examples of where we thought there was a real gap. And so we decided that we want to write a curriculum. And so we wrote this toddler curriculum in partnership with our educators, for the educators, with the educators, the experts in the field. And we launched that toddler curriculum, and we're now writing the infant curriculum with expert infant educators in their classrooms.
- [25:54]
Gloria Rivera
And when it comes to early childhood education, you know, we are looking at how very young kids navigate relationships with adults around them. And I know Neighborhood Villages believes that's fundamental to how a fully supportive system would work, but help me understand the stakes. What happens when we get it right for kids in those critical early years?
- [26:17]
Binal Patel
Yeah. Early relational health looks at the child in the context of the relationships that they are in the environment that they are in, the surroundings that impact them, that then causes that behavior. And so early relational health is really this zoom out of. We need to support the adult child relationships that that child has, educator to child, parent to child, whatever adult relationships they have, the surroundings that they're in, their basic health needs, their food and housing, and all the things that we've been talking about, because those are the relational context that that child lives in. And I think that's a really important mind shift in our society where we are not blaming the children for a behavior. We're trying to understand the context that has caused that behavior.
- [27:06]
Gloria Rivera
Okay, so we've talked about a few things now that a system needs to be truly supportive. Material goods for families, curriculum tailored to the youngest kiddos, and strategies to foster social emotional learning. But when we talk about a supportive system, a system that holds all of us, we have to include the child care workforce too. Like we've been talking about throughout this show, this is a group that is struggling. In 2022, one out of every seven childcare workers lived with a family income below the federal poverty line. Like early childhood education expert Junlei Lee said, a few episodes unhealthy childcare systems lead to a high turnover rate and teacher staffing shortages. As a former director and teacher herself, I asked Bienal about what support educators desperately need. I want to hear your take on how we best support the child care workforce, because we have been talking about them since the very beginning.
- [28:07]
Binal Patel
We need to pay our educators. We need to pay our educators a living wage. I cannot tell you the amount of incredible infant and toddler teachers I had that would leave every single year in tears because they loved their job and they just couldn't afford it. And I gave them a reference to their new job every year because I understand if you don't have a living wage, you cannot do this work. But there are some, some incredible educators who want to do this work, this very, very important work of molding and supporting and nurturing the brains of our youngest learners and just cannot sustain a career in this field. So I think that's first and foremost. We have to make it a field that's appreciated and compensated for the important work that it is. As parents, we're often lost in navigating and not experts in how to do this well. And I think the educators that choose to be experts and become experts in this can really teach us a lot. Early education is one of the few sectors that has a multi generational impact. In that very moment, we're impacting the children, we're impacting the families. Those children will one day become adults. That will then have their own families. It really is a ripple effect and so I just cannot overstate. These educators are superheroes and they're just not compensated enough.
- [29:41]
Gloria Rivera
It's the same issue we've come back to since the first season.
- [29:45]
Sarah Muncie
Right.
- [29:46]
Gloria Rivera
And it's confounding to me. I wish we were in a different place, but I think it's absolutely correct to keep repeating and repeating. We need to support our educators. It's going to be a steep uphill climb to make childcare supportive for everyone, the workforce, families, and of course, kids themselves. But I gotta say, talking to someone like Beenal, someone calm and clear eyed about the changes we need to make makes it feel doable. Because at Neighborhood Villages, people like Beenal are showing us what's possible. They're operating on a smaller scale in Massachusetts, but the impact is undeniable. When we come back after the break, we'll rejoin Sarah and Lauren to zoom out a bit. They'll share how their on the ground experience has given them insights into how we can scale these solutions on a nationwide level. We'll be right back.
- [30:43]
Binal Patel
Are you still quoting 30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. And every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to Discover. Learn more@discover.com creditcard based on the February 2024 Nielsen report.
- [31:14]
Gloria Rivera
I'm Hasan Minhaj and I have been lying to you.
- [31:17]
Lauren Kennedy
I only pretended to be a comedian so I could trick important people into.
- [31:20]
Gloria Rivera
Coming on my podcast. Hasan Minhaj doesn't know to ask them the tough questions that real journalists are way too afraid to ask. People like Senator Elizabeth Warren.
- [31:29]
Lauren Kennedy
Is America too dumb for democracy?
- [31:33]
Binal Patel
Outrageous.
- [31:34]
Gloria Rivera
Parenting expert Dr. Becky how do you skip consequences without raising a psychopath?
- [31:39]
Sarah Muncie
That's a good question.
- [31:40]
Gloria Rivera
Listen to Hasan Minhaj doesn't know From Lemonada Media, wherever you get your podcasts, we're back with Sarah and Lauren from Neighborhood Villages. They truly believe that their work serves as proof that building supportive childcare systems can happen anywhere across America. But I do think it's fair to have some healthy skepticism about that claim. When we look at what they've accomplished, it can seem almost deceptively easy. It makes me wonder, is this really something we can scale up? Can what works in Massachusetts translate nationwide? You know, do you feel that at times you make it look easy. I mean, I think there's a perception from my end, at least, that it's like, oh, yeah, neighborhood villages can do this.
- [32:37]
Sarah Muncie
No, anyone can do this. It's not. I'm not saying that it's not hard, because it is hard. School operations are hard, but it's totally doable. And if you ask the right people, I don't know how to do everything. But if you ask our coaches, our instructional staff, our policy team, our research team, our workforce specialists, they have expertise. And so to that human, it doesn't sound that hard. It's exciting. The work is incredibly exciting because it's so doable. We have a very complicated healthcare system. We have a very complicated K12 system. The military childcare system is complicated. We do complicated in this country all the time. We've just been socialized to think, I did this as a woman, I got pregnant. And so until they're five, this is on me. We have, like, made these years sort of this shameful thing that women aren't supposed to not. It's not admitting you need help. It's so weird that they think there's some magical shift at the age of five when all of a sudden we get all of these services. And so it's not just that neighborhood villages can do it.
- [33:54]
Gloria Rivera
Because we're in the last episode of season five, I do want to revisit the four demands that have so energized this season in its entirety that ch childcare should be guaranteed, it should be high quality, it should be accessible, and it should be supportive. Those four calls to action within this movement, how do we achieve those?
- [34:16]
Sarah Muncie
If there's one thing the listeners get from this season, it's to know these four words. Guaranteed, high quality, accessible, and supportive. It's not the listener's job to figure out how. When you say reproductive rights or guns to any American, they can give you a couple minutes, very impassioned about how they feel about it. And they expect the people they elect to do the things that they are impassionately saying they want to happen. You need to know those words and make those demands, and you don't have to feel like you can't make the demand if you personally don't know how to fix it.
- [34:53]
Gloria Rivera
So I'm hearing you say that. That's the listener's job to know those four takeaways. That is our goal this season, to instill in anyone who cares about this subject what should be everyone, those four demands. So, Lauren, when you think about a childcare system that successfully incorporates our demands. Whose job is it to make that happen and what does that look like, sound like, and feel like whose job.
- [35:21]
Lauren Kennedy
It is to make it happen as the policymaker that you elect to put into office, if we're talking about a system that serves you and your family and the educators around you, well, it's not on you to come up with the specifics for how that looks, but it is right, your right and responsibility in some cases, to call that policymaker. This doesn't have to be the representative and senator and Congress. It could be calling your city and saying, hey, we've heard about this interesting curriculum and coaching model that it seems like that city over there is putting into effect for its school district or for the early education providers in that area. Could we think about that here? It could be just being in community with one another, hearing other people's stories, finding that Sarah Muncie to sit on a couch with and say, this is bs. What could the two of us do? And there's strength in community and there's empowerment in community, and there's often the comfort to do things you might not want to do on your own.
- [36:36]
Gloria Rivera
I mean, one of the things that I learned this season was this idea in New York City of the stroller brigade. And I just love it because I just picture a bunch of parents, a bunch of strollers and using their voice collectively to ask for what they need from their local government for new parents or soon to be parents. And I've talked to so many who I'm like, oh boy, it's so hard to be at all prepared when you're growing a human and a heart inside you. It's so hard to be prepared for the childcare challenges that are going to come. But for new parents or soon to be parents who are struggling or worrying about child care right now, sitting on the couch like you two have talked about, what would you both want to say to them? Sarah, I'll start with you.
- [37:27]
Sarah Muncie
Okay. The first thing I would want them to know is that when they're having trouble navigating the system, they should call as a constituent, their representatives, as if their water had stopped working, as if their lights had stopped working, stopped working. They should call and they should say, here's what I'm running into. I'm having twins and I've called 13 child care centers and they laugh at me because there's not going to be one infant spot, but there wouldn't be two. What would you have me do? Because that call, they have to Go figure out what to do. Just like you said, hey, there's no ramp for my wheelchair on this street. They would need to figure it out. Once you think of it that way as something you have every right to complain about, then it starts to become infrastructure. And I think that can be, like, very empowering to think of that as. No, I'm putting it on you. I'm calling my city councilor and saying, what would you have me do next, Lauren?
- [38:27]
Lauren Kennedy
That you are not experiencing this alone. That you are experiencing this with hundreds and thousands of other families out there, women out there who may be sitting thinking, why am I failing as a parent if I can't find early education for my kid that feels good. That I can't find childcare that allows me to go to work or pursue my career the way I want to. The guilt that so many of us carry in those early years, that is not just you. There are too many people feeling this at the same time, which means it's not a you problem, it's an us problem. And when it's an us problem is exactly when you should go to the people that you've elected to represent you and say, okay, this is now your responsibility to fix, not mine.
- [39:18]
Gloria Rivera
Lauren, what you just said about this feeling that parents have. Am I failing my child because I can't figure this out. We don't want anyone to ever feel like that. So thank you both so much for being here. I adore you both. I miss you both. And as I like to say, onward. Let's keep going.
- [39:38]
Sarah Muncie
Onward. It was great to see you, Gloria.
- [39:42]
Gloria Rivera
We are not alone. Childcare is infrastructure we deserve. We have a right to demand our elected representatives fight for a system that works for everyone. A system that's guaranteed high quality, accessible, and truly supportive of. Of kids, families and workers. So here's my call to action for you. Start voicing these demands. I want you to bring them up on the playground in your parent group chats, mention them at your next PTA meeting, and be a childcare voter. Keep these issues front and center when you're at the ballot box. And please remember, we are not asking for too much. This is what we deserve. So we're demanding it. Because, as I always say, it doesn't have to be this way. No one is coming to save us. But that's fine, because by working together, we will save ourselves. The work is being done, and I want to share a really simple way you can help, too. Consider a donation to neighborhood vendors. Just head over to neighborhoodvillages, dot org. Donate Now. We've also dropped that link right in the show notes to make it super easy for you. Every contribution makes a real difference. There's more no One Is Coming to Save Us With Lemonada Premium subscribers get exclusive access to bonus content like unheard clips from our interviews. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts. No One One Is Coming to Save Us is a Lemonada original. This series is created and produced with Neighborhood Villages, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming childcare through innovative program building and policy design. Visit www.NeighborhoodVillages.org to learn more. I'm your host, Gloria Rivera. Lisa Fu and Hannah Boomershine are our producers. Ivan Korayev is our audio engineer. Our music is by Hannis Brown. Jackie Danziger is our VP of Partnerships and Production executive. Producers are Stephanie Whittles Wax and Jessica Cordova Kramer, along with me, Gloria Rivera. If you like this show and you believe what we're doing is important, please help others find us by leaving us a rating and writing a review. And most importantly, tell your friends. Follow no One Is Coming to Save Us Wherever you get your podcasts or listen, ad free on Amazon Music with your prime membership. Thank you for listening. Hang in there. You can do this.
- [42:25]
Binal Patel
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- [43:05]
Megan
Hi, I'm Megan and I've got a new podcast I think you're going to love. It's called Confessions of a Female Founder, a show where I chat with female entrepreneurs and friends about the sleepless nights, the lessons learned, and the laser focus that got them to where they are today. And through it all, I'm building a business of my own and getting all sorts of practical advice along the way that I'm so excited to share with you. Confessions of a Female Founder is out now. Hear new episodes each week ad free on Amazon Music. You can also ask Alexa Alex Alexa, play Confessions of a Female Founder with Megan on Amazon Music and she will.