Empowered gathered stories from parents, home-based providers, advocates, and community partners in Grand Junction and Colorado Springs, capturing the challenges families face and the people sustaining early childhood education. Hear their stories below:
Child Care Stories
The Alice Beavis Taylor Center for Early Education opens its doors, expanding access to high-quality infant and toddler care for downtown families.
McKayla Bieser, Early Childhood Education Director shares how her rural community secured a second BEST grant and chose to invest in a new preschool-through-12th-grade school, expanding local education and childcare opportunities.
McKayla Bieser shares how Plateau Valley District 50 supports young children and families through early childhood education, specialized services, and community outreach.
McKayla Bieser, Early Childhood Director at Plateau Valley District 50 shares how the district brings its ranching heritage into the classroom through hands-on agricultural learning and a close-knit school community.
After struggling to find child care in rural Colorado, Stephanie Bivins, a former educator turned her experience into a broader effort to expand access to quality care and support for families and teachers.
Stephanie Bivins from Mesa County Partnership for Children and Families discusses how childcare access affects families, local businesses, workforce stability, and the wider Colorado economy.
Stephanie Bivins, Executive Director of Mesa County Partnership for Children and Families provides an overview of the county’s progress toward expanding childcare access and early childhood supports.
Megan Alfaro, mother of eight, tells how she started Colorado Baby 18 years ago because she couldn't find cloth diapers locally. She grew it into a Main Street shop and a community hub where local moms and families feel seen and supported.
Military spouse advocate Kayla Corbitt talks about being a "mentally single parent." Because the mission comes first, military spouses carry the whole household alone, often with no community nearby. She asks what that hidden, unpaid work means for the country's mission readiness.
Military spouse Kayla Corbitt never planned to start an organization. Now she leads Operation Childcare Project, which gives military families direct grants so their trusted caregivers can step in. The typical grant is under $1,500, and families don't pay it back.
Military spouse Kayla Corbitt says childcare, not license transfer, is the biggest thing keeping military spouses out of work. Military spouses face about 60% underemployment even though they're often more educated than their civilian peers.
Samuel Clark explains why early childcare is "far and away the best investment" for economic development and long-term workforce return. He also shares why it matters to him as a parent.
Samuel Clark from the Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation explains why childcare is a "sticky asset." Having it nearby keeps tenants and workers in place, and pairing it with attainable housing sets families up to build wealth for generations.
Aspen Nichols, a Mesa County home childcare provider describes daily calls from families looking for infant care, with an estimated one spot for every 30 infants. Her own waitlist is two and a half years long, and she talks about what the CCAP freeze is costing both families and providers.
Aspen dropped out of high school when she got pregnant. With quality childcare from Head Start, she earned her GED and a full-tuition scholarship, and she now owns All About Children Daycare (ABCD on E).
After nearly 30 years in early childhood education, Aspen Nichols turned to in-home care when post-COVID staffing shortages closed the preschool she directed. Today, she runs All About Children Daycare (ABCD on E) with her family. The work is expensive and hard, but she says the hugs and the "aha" moments make it all worth it.
Deborah Harvin started Edith's Haven after her divorce, when she was raising three kids on her own. Twenty years later, she's running a home-based preschool and encouraging other providers of color in Colorado to build businesses that last.
Deborah Harvin explains that getting ready for kindergarten means helping children advocate for themselves and express their emotions safely. Once they can do that, they're ready to learn.
Family child care provider Deborah Harvin of Colorado Springs shows us around her home-based Head Start program. She explains how the Home Network helps providers turn their homes into welcoming places for young children to learn.
Colorado Springs producer and filmmaker Marteene Diaz explains why "just have the grandparents watch them" doesn't work for many families today, because grandparents are still working full time to get by.
Marteene Diaz describes a year of changing childcare for her daughter Kaya: a nanny share, help from family, and a lucky rehire, all while Kaya sat on a daycare waitlist. She makes the case that the shortage of childcare spaces affects every family, not just hers.
Marteene Diaz explains that paying $1,400 a month for daycare, about the same as her mortgage, is making her family wait to have a second child and move to a bigger home.
Megan Alfaro, mother of eight, tells how she started Colorado Baby 18 years ago because she couldn't find cloth diapers locally. She grew it into a Main Street shop and a community hub where local moms and families feel seen and supported.
Diane Price spent 33 years at Early Connections Learning Centers as the former CEO. Diane explains why a trusted early education partner matters, and warns that high-quality childcare now costs more than many working families can pay.
From former corporate regional manager to founder of Edith’s Haven, a family child care home, Deborah Harvin cares for just eight children, who start as babies and stay until kindergarten, building family bonds for the past 20 years.
Colorado Springs parent Samuel Clark walks through the reality of securing care for two young kids. His four-year-old son James attends Early Connections Learning Center downtown while his ten-month-old daughter Margot is home with her grandmother. Without her, the family would be paying more than $30,000 a year.
When a military childcare paperwork glitch cost Kayla Corbitt her savings and a new job, officials told her she was a "one-off." Instead, she founded the Operation Childcare Project to gather data, expose widespread system gaps, and fight for military families facing the same crisis.
