{"id":3882,"date":"2025-03-19T01:04:48","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T01:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homegrownchildcare.org\/?p=3882"},"modified":"2025-04-02T20:35:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T20:35:13","slug":"home-grown-values-sustain-positive-change-in-the-years-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homegrownchildcare.org\/home-grown-values-sustain-positive-change-in-the-years-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Grown Values Sustain Positive Change in the Years Ahead","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cIn times of incredible uncertainty,\u201d says Home Grown Executive Director Natalie Renew, \u201cit is reassuring to have values that can guide you.\u201d For just that purpose, Home Grown\u2019s new values statement<\/a> underscores the organization\u2019s commitment to reimagining child care policies and systems through collaboration with home-based providers and the communities they serve. \u201cThe hardest thing in a moment like this,\u201d says Renew, \u201cis to have hope. But home-based child care providers open their doors everyday and help children believe that a better future is possible. We can do that too. We have to do that. That\u2019s why affirming providers\u2019 voices, agency, and self-determination is at the heart of our values.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Five years since Home Grown\u2019s founding, leaders and funders gathered to envision a strategic plan that will guide the organization\u2019s next three to five years of doing values-driven work. \u201cOur values say what we care about,\u201d says Renew. \u201cBut more importantly, they say who we want to be going forward as a sustainable, long-term partner to child care providers and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Values in Action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new values statement reflects lessons learned during the organization\u2019s first years, when responding to the Covid-19 pandemic\u2019s impacts on the child care workforce pushed Home Grown to pivot from their original plan. \u201cVery quickly we learned that answering the needs of providers and including them in decision-making about their essential work was most important.\u201d That lesson eventually led to the Leading from Home<\/a> initiative. It also became apparent that public infrastructure was insufficient to get resources to providers. \u201cThe agencies were coming to us and saying, \u2018Can you help us distribute CARES dollars, ARPA dollars?\u2019 That led to our developing and supporting comprehensive networks<\/a> for providers.\u201d  And finally, Home Grown saw that providers were using funds for basic needs\u2013food, housing, and utilities\u2013which led to the creation of the Thriving Providers Project<\/a> and work aimed at bolstering providers\u2019 financial stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Home Grown\u2019s formula for success is \u201cworking intimately in a hyper-local way,\u201d says Renew, \u201cbecause what\u2019s really happening in providers\u2019 homes as they care for and teach young children needs to inform both state and federal policy and advocacy work. We talk to the providers and caregivers who are doing the work every day and ask, \u2018What do you need to make your life better?\u2019 Our job is about facilitating, creating containers, and amplifying providers\u2019 stories and recommendations. We listen, and we try to lift up the brilliance, creativity, and solutions that providers themselves create.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Values to Impact<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayley Village, a California family child care provider who chairs Home Grown\u2019s advisory committee (comprised of eight caregivers from across the country), agrees that because Home Grown honors and amplifies provider perspectives, the organization builds trust and solidarity with the communities it serves. Village launched her business as a single mom with three kids under 10 and mastered the juggling act of keeping her family and her business afloat. Then one day another provider suggested she share her experience and wisdom with Home Grown\u2019s advisory group. Years later, she chairs the group and says, \u201cI\u2019ve never felt more part of a team, that I have a seat at the table, that my experience is valuable and respected. I have a voice that matters.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working with Home Grown built Village\u2019s confidence and skills as an advocate, so much so that when an elected representative showed up for a meet and greet in her town, she spoke out publicly for the first time and shared her story as a small business owner paying $4,500 a month in rent to operate her family child care. \u201cHe actually listened to me,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd afterward, I felt my shoulders get a little bit broader. Home Grown gave me my voice. They\u2019ve given me financial support when I needed it because of some serious health issues. They really see providers as whole human beings and as professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, Early Edge California<\/a> partnered with Home Grown to replicate the Leading from Home initiative, with a particular focus on family, friend and neighbor providers. Home Grown provided stipends for the 10 providers involved in the group, as well as guidance in how to organize the group and facilitate a monthly community of practice. \u201cUltimately,\u201d says Andrew Avila, a policy analyst for Early Edge, \u201cthe group really catered to the voices and needs of the FFN caregivers.\u201d The community of practice focused on topics they raised and they created the idea to hold an advocacy day at the state capitol<\/a>, which was a huge success. \u201cThe providers spoke with policymakers and legislative staff who had never even heard of FFN caregivers. They were really effective in telling their stories, and later they also spoke to the Department of Social Services and gave direct feedback on pending regulations, including better access to subsidies and increased wages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bold and Abundant<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Village and Avila\u2019s testimonials both exemplify Home Grown\u2019s commitments to community ownership, collective power and action, and operating \u201cfrom a place of abundance\u201d rather than scarcity. \u201cOur vision for the future of child care is bold and abundant,\u201d says Renew, \u201cbecause when we are open hearted and in solidarity with all families and providers, then we have the power of numbers. When we include family child care providers and family, friend and neighbor caregivers, we\u2019re talking about 5 million caregivers caring for 11 million kids under the age of 13.  That\u2019s a lot of people who can move our vision forward collaboratively and collectively.\u201d That\u2019s good for caregivers, for kids, for the economy, and for all communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Home Grown will be sharing more details about our strategic focus and how this will shape our work throughout the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Home Grown\u2019s new values statement underscores the organization\u2019s commitment to reimagining child care policies and systems through collaboration with home-based providers and the communities they serve. Read more.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":2,"featured_media":3889,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"resource-categories":[53,52],"class_list":["post-3882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","resource-categories-family-child-care-fcc","resource-categories-family-friend-and-neighbor-ffn"],"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homegrownchildcare.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homegrownchildcare.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homegrownchildcare.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homegrownchildcare.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homegrownchildcare.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/homegrownchildcare.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homegrownchildcare.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homegrownchildcare.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homegrownchildcare.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homegrownchildcare.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3882"},{"taxonomy":"resource-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homegrownchildcare.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource-categories?post=3882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}