Greenville First Steps

Smiling boy with stickers on his face stands by a table, with a girl in blue shirt behind him indoors.

COVID-19 Impact

A report by the Institute for Child Success on the initial economic impact of COVID-19 on South Carolina’s child care sector found that nearly half (48%) of centers are closed across the state. The same study also found that one-third of centers cannot financially weather a closure of any length of time and another third cannot quantify how long they would be able to handle a closure.

Emergency Fund

Greenville First Steps launched an emergency fund to support home-based child care providers in South Carolina. The fund provides one-time grants of up to $1,900 to 150 providers in rural and urban areas. The funding covers approximately two weeks of expenses and can be used to pay for necessities like rent, electricity, and food.

Home Grown is a national collaborative of funders committed to improving the quality of and access to home-based child care with a mission to increase access to and the quality of home-based child care. 

Women’s contributions and experiences are not well represented in the record books, but it is just as rich and worth celebrating. Ours is a tale of community, resilience, and connection to one another, and it is inextricably linked with care work. 
During Women’s History Month, we celebrate the contributions that women have made to every corner of our society and honor their achievements. Among these leaders are the more than 5 million women who form the backbone of home-based child care (HBCC).
For generations, Black home-based child care providers have built systems of care rooted in community, trust, and resilience, often stepping in where formal systems fell short. Of the over 5 million home-based child care providers, including Family Child Care providers and paid and unpaid Family Friend and Neighbor caregivers, roughly a quarter in each subgroup identify as Black Non-Hispanic