In the Lamoille Valley we’ve just finished our busy Dabble Day month – as hundreds of families have come together to play on a wintery Saturday, and a wintery Sunday! At the most recent event in Morrisville, over 200 kids and families spent the morning building headdresses, sitting in kiddie pools filled with feed corn, getting their faces painted, or trying out a pottery wheel, while meeting other kids and families, learning about nutrition and child development, but mostly just having an awesome agenda-free play time.
The Lamoille Council continues to struggle with how to support increasing child care capacity in the Region as there is no capacity for infants in child care. We know this is having a significant impact on growing the workforce in the region. It is difficult to grow an economy if those who wish to have families and join the workforce must choose between them because of a lack of child care.
Additionally, as the Council reviews strategic plans by various agencies and organizations in the region to inform our own strategic planning, it is clear that increasing poverty is driving negative outcomes for Vermont kids and families. The council is grappling with how to address this systemic challenge and make it the focus of all we do.
