Women-Led Louisiana Nonprofits Raise Over $600,000 for Child Care Providers Following Hurricane Ida
Louisiana Policy Institute for Children and Agenda for Children surpass initial goal by more than double
NEW ORLEANS (December 16, 2021) — Today, the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children (LPIC) and Agenda for Children announced that the Hurricane Ida Recovery Fund for Louisiana Child Care Provides, formed as a direct response the devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall in August, has far surpassed its initial $250,000 goal and raised a total of $600,000 to support child care providers across the state. These funds have already played a large role Louisiana’s recovery, given that over 320 child care centers reported physical damage to their facilities, and 65 reported major damage, contributing to the estimated $1.4 billion in total damages caused by the disaster.
“In the days following Hurricane Ida, our team quickly got to work contacting partners and assessing the damage. We were immediately met with an overwhelming need for financial resources,” said LPIC Executive Director, Libbie Sonnier, Ph.D. “In partnership with Agenda for Children, we launched The Hurricane Ida Recovery Fund for Louisiana Child Care Providers on September 1 with an ambitious initial goal of $250,000. Thanks to this incredible collaborative effort and donations from Entergy and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation, we soon needed to raise our goal to $500,000, and we have since surpassed even that. This is a great stride towards real, lasting change for child care in our state.”
Louisiana has been experiencing a shortage of available child care providers since before Hurricane Ida. In fact, it is estimated that over $1 billion in productivity is lost each year in Louisiana due to a lack of available high-quality child care.
“After Hurricane Ida, providers were forced to temporarily close at a time when caregivers of young children most needed the support,” said Olivette Temple, founder of Temple’s Preschool of Math and Science and president of Childcare Association of Louisiana (CCAL). “Quality child care has a positive impact on our entire state – from our youngest learners to our veteran workforce.”
Since launching the Hurricane Ida Recovery Fund, LPIC and Agenda for Children have distributed over $250,000 of the raised funds to help child care centers across Louisiana cover damage-related expenses. This decisive action will ensure that the disaster does not further exacerbate the broader child care crisis faced by Louisiana and the rest of the country, as outlined in a report by the U.S. Department of the Treasury released following Hurricane Ida.
"I am very proud of our team and our donors for being able to make this happen,” says Agenda for Children Chief Executive Officer Jen Roberts. “This incredible woman-led initiative will stop our state from falling victim to the vicious cycle that a lack of available high-quality child care creates. When parents are forced to drop out of the workforce to take care of their children, it can have a huge negative impact on the economy. Overcoming this in the face of both a national child care shortage and a national labor shortage is no small feat.”
To learn more about LPIC, visit their website or follow LPIC on social media for frequent updates @PolicyInstLA.
For more information on Agenda for Children, visit agendaforchildren.org.