Heywood Healthcare of Gardner will begin offering fully subsidized child care to employees with the greatest financial need, thanks to an $800,000 state grant awarded to United Way of North Central Massachusetts.
The United Way of North Central Massachusetts in Fitchburg was chosen to receive the funds as part of the Commonwealth Employer Child Care Innovation Fund. The nonprofit will partner with Heywood Healthcare, the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts, and Upwards, a California-based caregiver tech company.
The funding is intended to boost workforce talent acquisition and retention. Accessing affordable child care has been a significant barrier to achieving both of those goals, said Heywood President and CEO Rozanna Penney.
“I have seen the incredible people of Heywood Healthcare face impossible choices, not because of a lack of dedication, but because child care has become unaffordable and out of reach,” Penney said in the Thursday announcement from United Way. “Too often, employees are forced to step away from the workforce because they cannot make ends meet. With an overwhelming majority of our workforce made up of women, many balancing work and family responsibilities, this is deeply personal to our organization. This is also a regional economic issue, impacting our ability to recruit and retain a strong healthcare workforce.”
The Commonwealth Employer Child Care Innovation Fund awarded grants to four organizations this round:
- Berkshire United Way in Pittsfield: $400,000
- Community Day Care Center of Lawrence, Inc. (dba The Community Group): $550,000
- Seaport Orthodontics (dba Seaport Smiles) in Boston: $150,000
- United Way of North Central Massachusetts: $800,000
A private donor through the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts matched the funding for Heywood program.
Upwards will provide the platform employees will use to find child care.
“For the past three years, our research of innovative shared funding child care models from across the country position us well for success on this grant,” Kat Deal, project analyst/coordinator of the Employers & Childcare Coalition of North Central Mass., said in the announcement. “Collaborating with technology partners and industry experts to create real childcare solutions for working families while strengthening our regional workforce is so rewarding.”
The pilot program is intended to test employer-supported child care options to support workforce development and can be implemented in other companies and regions.
Monica Benevides is a correspondent for Worcester Business Journal.
