July 1, 2009
Vol: 16 No: 30

News

Coming out for safe, quality child care for all

by: Laura Rumpf , Contributing Writer

Child Care Resources joins Pride week parade

Rachel Ceballos and Malia Fullerton attended the Sunday afternoon Seattle Pride parade with their son Zach. Child Care Resources’ float saluted LGBT adoptive parents like Ceballos and Fullerton.

Photo by: Katia Roberts , Contributing Photographer

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Child Care Resources (CCR), a non-profit organization serving families of all income levels and cultures in need of child care, made their debut appearance at the Seattle Gay Pride Parade this Sunday, dancing and waving from a whimsical “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” inspired float. Hundreds of child care providers who designated themselves as “gay-lesbian friendly” received postcards from the resource center informing them of CCR’s participation, and many of those providers chose to join the celebration for the first time, bringing along their own families.

“Participating just seemed natural,” Tom Slattery, Chief Development Officer for CCR explained, of the decision to display CCR’s support for gay and lesbian parents in the parade for the first time. “We try to be intentional about supporting all the communities we serve, and we know we help a number of gay and lesbian families to find child care that is [LGBT] friendly.”

Since 1990, Child Care Resources has helped hundreds of thousands of Seattle-area residents, including homeless and low-income families, parents and guardians of special needs children, and first-time mothers and fathers, identify and connect with the most appropriate child care center or service for their unique needs. The nonprofit has also helped train low-income women transitioning from welfare to work to start home-based child care businesses or begin a career as a teacher in a child care program. Each year CCR provides hundreds of subsidies and scholarships to families who cannot afford the full cost of an often prohibitively expensive, but critical, service.

CCR joined a diverse crowd of parade participants this Sunday, ranging from the Feminist Karate Union, to Group Health, to Catholic Parents of Lesbians and Gays, for a colorful celebration of Seattle’s gay,lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities and their supporters.

Terrie Yaffe, a resources specialist with CCR, who works particularly with homeless families, was able to march with CCR’s crepe paper butterflies and caterpillars in the parade on Sunday. “We all felt we got a really good response [and] saw a lot of people alongside the parade who cheered us on and called us out by name, “ she said.

“We know from experience that even families who aren’t gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender want to know that their kids are in care in a safe place that [provides] for different types of families.” She said parents often request a child care service that raises children in a way that is not limited or discriminatory based on gender or sexuality. “This issue is important to all families, not just those with two moms or two dads.”

“Whether you are a homeless family struggling to find funding for childcare… or a family starting out for the first time, or maybe you work odd hours and need evening and weekend care, we want all families to know that we are the go-to place for a number of different services,” she said. “It always makes families realize how serious we are about providing child care for all children and all families when we come to an event like this one.” 

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Comments

As a mother and grandmother of a diverse family encompassing race, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and age diversity, I am proud to work for an agency willing to struggle and do the hard work on issues of equity and social change as it impacts we the staff and the people we serve in King County.

Theressa Lenear | submitted on 07/06/2009, 7:40am

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