When 2020 began, everyone at 4C for Children was filled with excitement at what we planned to accomplish in the coming months. Our financial outlook was positive, we were laying the groundwork for a new three-year strategic plan with our board, department goals were established, staff were focused on implementing new strategies to help child care providers meet the summer deadline to become quality rated and new ways to help families find quality child care options were being explored and integrated into our work.
Then in a matter of days, the COVID-19 pandemic turned all aspects of our lives upside down. Earlier plans were archived, goals were set aside. Our focus turned to problem solving the day-to-day—sometimes hour-to-hour—challenges the pandemic created.
Our important services of the past became critical: keeping child care providers informed, supported and supplied with PPE and helping essential worker families find the child care they needed in order to continue working.
But in the midst of all the change and uncertainty, we found steadiness, reliability and incredible inspiration in our child care heroes whose commitment to serving our local families and children never wavered, in our 4C for Children staff, and in our community partners and donors whose generosity fueled our response and ensured our solution-oriented approaches had the resources needed for implementation.
Looking Back and Looking Forward
We are incredibly proud of all that 4C for Children accomplished in 2020. A snapshot of those accomplishments can be found in the agency’s 2020 Annual Impact Report. This report highlights the ways the support of the community has not only impacted child care providers and the families and children they serve, but also the impact made on the way we work and our capacity to continue building up the child care infrastructure in our community.
Despite the challenges and turbulence of 2020, 4C for Children has come out on the other side a stronger, more innovative, strategic, cohesive, nimble agency. Never before in this agency’s history has our role in the child care arena been more crucial as we continue to help child care programs recover and grow and help families returning to the workforce find quality, safe child care.
We are once again filled with the excitement of early 2020 as our strategic plan comes together, goals are set and staff integrate their 2020 experiences and knowledge into future work. Together, we created momentum in 2020 to ensure our youngest children get the quality early education and care they need and deserve. We look forward to building on that momentum as we continue our work in 2021.