Childcare is expensive. On top of the rising costs, a report from the Texas Women's Foundation revealed that more than half of Texas counties are considered childcare deserts.
One Fort Worth organization is trying to help. The Center for Transforming Lives (CTL) is a nonprofit that offers services like counseling and job training to single moms — and those moms can utilize free, drop-in childcare if they're enrolled in a CTL program.
CEO Carol Klocek spoke with NTX Now's Miranda Suarez about how schools and businesses should follow their same model to make childcare more accessible in creative ways.
"We have to be creative about child care," Klocek said. "The days of just doing the same old, same old... It's clearly not working. Families are really struggling with the high cost of child care."
Klocek explained that the CTL's goal is to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty, and a way they can do that is by offering childcare to mother's who are enrolled in programs at the center, such as parent education classes, job certifications, or even counseling.
One mom has been utilizing this free childcare while completing a forklift and logistics program.
Sinquese Savage said without access to CTL's free childcare, she wouldn't have been able to complete the program.
"Without having a job, you're trying to make ends meet, but that extra childcare expense, it's like, okay, now it's a very tight budget," Savage said. "Without this free childcare drop-in, and it's at the same place that I'm getting my training, it is very easy, convenient, and very helpful. It's like, it's hard to put into words because you don't find things like that."
Both Klocek and Savage are glad to see these types of spaces being utilized in their community. And ultimately, Savage says the real benefit of these programs are for the children.
"It's not easy," Savage said. "It's definitely not easy. And with children, you wanna show them...you wanna be an example for them."
Miranda Suarez is a co-host of KERA's NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Miranda at msuarez@kera.org.
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