As a rural Iowa mom and the director of Postville Childcare Services, Kristy Turner understands the value of reliable childcare. Until recently, the town had few available childcare resources.  

Staffing was an ongoing challenge for Turner, due primarily to the center’s inability to pay a livable wage. Teachers at the center, which offers daycare, after school care and preschool programming, were earning $11 an hour at best. 

“It was like a revolving door,” Turner said. “It felt like teachers were coming in not prepared and not understanding the task at hand, and then leaving. We were constantly in that state.”

Turner armed herself with data when she conducted her community outreach. She understood that 71% of parents to children under 6 in Allamakee County worked outside the home. And she knew the county was classified as a childcare desert because it had an overall shortfall of 1,700 childcare spaces. 

She also understood that some Postville families lived in an income limbo, where they earned just a bit too much to receive assistance but not enough to afford childcare. Postville Childcare Services, the data showed, was an essential need for the community.

Things changed when Turner was alerted to a grant opportunity funded by the American Rescue Plan Act through the Iowa Health and Human Services Department. Turner could tap into the Allamakee County Child Care Solutions Fund to improve wages for teachers at Postville Childcare Services if she could raise money on her own first. 

She thought that might be a challenge in Postville, a town of about 2,500 with a diverse migrant population that fluctuates depending on the needs of the town’s biggest industries. The country’s largest kosher meat-packing plant is located in Postville, as is a sizable resin fabrication company. Despite her doubts, Turner initiated outreach with individuals and the local business community. 

“The data spoke for itself and it really moved people to take action,” she said.

“We advocated as though our livelihoods and our families’ livelihoods depended on it, because it did. We were facing potentially closing. It was a very emotional time,” Turner said. “Our community really stepped up. We’re a little, small town. People don’t have much. They’re farmers, teachers, nurses, factory workers working away, and we got private contributions from $5 to $200, just what people could give.”

When she reflects on the town’s ability to raise close to $120,000 in private contributions, Turner struggles to hold back tears. And when she went to access what she had thought would be 1-to-1 matching funds from the state, she learned it would be a 2-to-1 match. 

A number of partners helped her secure the funding, including Allamakee Economic Development, the Upper Exploreland Regional Planning Commission, HAWC Partnerships for Children, the Northeast Funders Network and the Iowa Women’s Foundation. And the school district added Turner and an additional center employee as staff members to alleviate the burden of two salaries for the center. 

“It was just amazing,” she said.

That additional funding translated to new jobs for the community, more stability within the childcare program, greater capacity at the childcare center, higher pay for employees and an average savings of $175 per month for families for every child they have enrolled. 

Turner was able to raise wages to close to $15 an hour. Her 16-member staff used to be a majority of  part-time employees. Now she has a 22-member staff of mostly full-time employees. In addition, the center was able to open a room that was previously closed so the children have more space.  

The center also received a second grant from the state, in partnership with the local school district, that will allow it to renovate and open an additional infant room.

“We have a lot of babies right now,” Turner said. 

The waiting list for an infant opening had, at one point, 14 names on it. When the renovation project is complete, that waiting list is expected to evaporate entirely.

Now, Turner said they need to sustain this momentum to keep childcare affordable and stable. 

Turner said she now hopes the state will commit to long-term funding to ensure stability for the center and the families it serves.

“We know at this age a secure attachment is vital for their learning and growing, so if they have a teacher they know will be there every day, then they thrive,” Turner said. “We’re building and we’re growing and it’s really exciting.” 

The American Rescue Plan Act was a stimulus package passed by the 117th U.S. Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was signed into law in March of 2021 by President Biden to aid in the country’s economic recovery.