How to use Prop. 14 to help the Childcare Crisis in Girdwood

Share your experiences Feb. 29 in the. Girdwood Community Room

By Thea Ritter

Little Bears Board Member

All parents in the Four Valleys have a child care story. Whether it is scrambling to work while watching little ones, waiting to get into the only daycare in the area, or ‘tightening the belt' to make ends meet’ while you take time off work to care for your children, we all have experiences to share.  

The Muni-driven Anchorage child card and early education (ACCEE) fund is hosting an event on Thursday, Feb. 29 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Girdwood Community Room, at 250 Egloff Drive, to hear your stories and learn from them. Childcare will be provided during the event by Little Bears staff at Little Bears Playhouse, at 130 Egloff Drive, so please drop off your children on your way to the event.

A brief presentation on the background of the ACCEE fund will be given before the floor opens for discussion. RSVP is encouraged at https://www.careforkidsanchorage.com/events/february-29 for the event and email littlebearsplayhouse@gmail.com if you need childcare. 

Specifically, the Governor’s Task Force wants to hear from you about how Proposition 14, commonly referred to at “Prop 14”, funds should be disbursed to help alleviate the child care crisis in Girdwood.

To give a little background, Prop 14’s “Care for Kids'' initiative in Anchorage was a bi-partisan effort to dedicate local marijuana sales tax for providing affordable child care and pre-K for children in Anchorage. It was voted on and passed in the local election held in April 2023.

As reported in an op-ed in ADN this week, the implementation team is seeking input on how to use the funds. If you can’t attend the Feb. 29 meeting, you can share your experiences here by March 8 at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ACCEE1. 

More information about the initiative can be found at https://www.careforkidsanchorage.com/.