Page 4 - MidWeek Windward - Feb 2, 2022

4 FEBRUARY 2, 2022
Windward CC Pilots Family Child Care Essentials Program
The Family Child Care Essentials certificate program is being led by Windward Community College. PHOTO COURTESY WINDWARD COMMUNITY COLLEGE
face-to-face via Zoom.
A 2017 study by Univer- sity of Hawai‘i’s Center on the Family found that 64% of children of working par- ents need care, and existing providers could only serve 25% of them. According to Windward CC officials, the current pandemic has dis- rupted existing services — decreasing the capacity of existing providers — just as more parents are returning to
Punalu’u Resident Helps Fund College For Kids
FROM PAGE 1
Windward Community College is creating the Fami- ly Child Care Essentials cer- tificate program in response to a need for child care to support working families.
the workforce. This increas- es stress on families, making it harder for some parents to return to work and slows economic recovery.
ward CC chancellor Ardis formation, registration and Eschenberg, information session sign up For more information call can be found online at wind-
Students will learn about setting-up a high-quality family child care center, and running a successful business. This includes be- coming licensed, financial record-keeping, marketing and working with children and families.
Addressing this need, Windward CC’s Office of Career and Community Ed- ucation, in partnership with People Attentive to Children (also known as PATCH) and Learning to Grow developed the pilot program, consisting of three parts.
Tuition for the Family Child Care Essentials pro- gram is free. Students will also receive course materi- als and additional resources free of charge. Participation in the program is paid for by the Hawai‘i Resilience Fund and Omidyar ‘Ohana Fund of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation through 2022. Classes start weekly with open enrollment.
is attempting to assist with this challenge,” states pro- gram coordinator Cassia Simms of Windward CC.
Students will complete six required courses with PATCH, and 20 noncredit training hours with Wind- ward CC in a community of practice, a collaborative environment with other pro- viders. For the final compo- nent, students will receive one-on-one coaching to sup- port their success.
“Finding child care is a struggle for our ‘oha- na in Hawai‘i. This new grant-funded pilot program
The second cohort starts during the first week in February. It is a hybrid for- mat with part of it done on demand and part of it done
“Enrollment is open to anyone on all islands, pro- vides program materials and is completely free of charge,” Simms adds.
“We are excited to be of- fering a program to increase child care capacity across Hawai‘i, support new fam- ily child care providers and benefit working parents and their keiki,” states Wind-
808-235-7363. Course in- wardcce.org/efcc.
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Most recently, it hosted a collection drive at Pearl- ridge Center. It netted about 93,129 total HI-5 recyclable cans and bottles weighing in at 7,261.2 pounds — more than 3.5 tons. Price’s goal is to create a system that will collect 2-4 million cans and bottles per year so one to two Hawai‘i students can get a full four-year ride to col- lege annually.
in during collection drives. There’s plenty to do: collect- ing and sorting cans and bot- tles by taking lids off, keep- ing can tabs on or keeping bottle labels on.
looking to partner with schools, restaurants and businesses to be able to not only collect more cans and bottles but to also connect more with the community. We want to be able to edu- cate about the importance of recycling and the environ- ment,” Price shares.
bottles in depots at King Intermediate School, Kua- loaGrown Market at Kualoa Ranch, Lōkahi Kailua Mar- ket and Mililani Uka Ele- mentary School.
Volunteers can also drop off cans and bottles to Bot- tles4College via a collec- tion drive, depot or pick up. They could also deposit at a recycling center and send the receipt and money via check or online payment. As a nonprofit, Bottles4College can give out tax exemption receipts and community vol- unteer hours.
“This year, our focus is also on grants, monetary do- nations and corporate spon- sorships for our operation budget, especially currently looking for a lightweight box truck,” Price says.
“We also have restaurant and business partners we collect from on a regular ba- sis,” Price says.
“Overall, I want to be a philanthropist that will be able to help others the best I can,” he notes.
Price isn’t alone in this endeavor. About 30 volun- teers work together with him to collect items and pitch
“Bottles4College is also
The community can also drop off recycled cans and
For more information about how to recycle, visit bottles4college.weebly.com or check out the project’s In- stagram (@bottles4college).
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