Child Care at RVM?

by Connie Kent

“The lack of adequate child care not only keeps parents from trying to earn a paycheck but damages the economy overall. It’s one of the biggest reasons that American companies are struggling to find workers” (German Lopez, NY Times, 3/3/23).

We continue to have a shortage of workers at RVM, all these months after the Pandemic emergency. Who knows how many prospective employees haven’t even applied because they lack child care?

There is something we can do about it. We could establish a child care facility right here at the Manor. But more than just a child care facility, it could be an “intergenerational learning center” – a place where children and elders could interact and enjoy activities together. Of course, not all of us will want to play with children. For those who are alarmed at the prospect of noisy children, the facility could be located at the edge of campus. Before he left, Stan arranged to rent space for such a center from PRS, right down on Ellendale, for $1 a year.

It would be a big project, and there are legal challenges, such as liability and local regulations. So one option would be to hire an experienced licensed provider, one familiar with the laws governing such a facility.

Not only can it be done; it is being done elsewhere. There is an award-winning child care program located within Providence Mount St. Vincent in West Seattle, which provides assisted living, skilled nursing, and short term rehab for about.400 seniors – AND it provides child care. Check it out:
https://www.providence.org/locations/wa/mount-st-vincent/facility-profile/intergenerational-learningcenter and https://www.care.com/c/seniors-and-kids-thrive-when-day-care-and-nur/

Here’s a link to a piece ABC News did on the center in 2015, complete with a video: https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/seattle-preschool-nursing-home-transforms-elderly-residents/story?id=31803817

There are similar facilities in other places, among them the Bethlehem Intergenerational Center in Grand Rapids Michigan, (https://www.today.com/health/intergenerational-care-center-combines-senior-child-care-t116046) and one in Eagan, Minnesota (https://www.today.com/health/intergenerational-care-center-combines-senior-child-care-t116046)

It makes such good sense, doesn’t it? Such a center would:
1. benefit RVM management by helping to attract and retain employees
2. benefit RVM employees by providing convenient access to quality child care
3. benefit interested RVM residents by providing opportunities for stimulating contact with children and a feeling of belonging to the larger community
4. provide contact with elders for children whose grandparents may live far away
5. benefit children by promoting social and intellectual growth, emotional bonds with seniors, and less fear of wheel chairs and medical devices such as oxygen

And best of all, it would mark RVM as forward looking and a model for such services in other life care communities.