March 17, 2020
Dear Wima Valentine Childcare Families,
As I shared last week, Wilma Valentine Childcare will continue to remain open until we are mandated to close. However, based on Governor DeWine’s press conference on Sunday, March 15th when he told families to keep children home if they are able, we understand that this caused great dilemmas in the homes of our WVC children and families. We know that many families have opted to keep their child/children home and some families do not have other viable childcare options. At our WVC Board Meeting Monday evening the board decided to forgive the payments of families who choose to keep their son/daughter home during these weeks of being asked to “socially distance” ourselves from others and to shelter in place as much as possible. At the present time we are considering this time period, March 16th –April 3rd. The weekly rate of $125.00 will be forgiven for those families who choose to keep their children at home for an entire week at a time. If a child is attending childcare, you will still be billed the weekly rate. If a child becomes ill during this time period, we will extend additional sick vouchers to families to cover the cost of individual sick days. In order to track payments, forgiveness of payment, and sick vouchers, I ask that you each do the following:
- If you wish to have your weekly rate forgiven during this time period, you must complete the attached Tuition Assistance Application and cite the need as “Absence during COVID-19 public health pandemic.” You also need to state the weeks that you wish for the tuition assistance to be applied, for example; March 23-March 27 and March 30-April 3. You must either call Sam Macy at 937-658-6703 or Nancy Stiefel at 937-658-6763 with assistance completing the form, drop off the form to the childcare, scan and email this form to smacy@shelbydd.org, or fax it to 937-493-4612. Only families who have returned this form or communicated directly with either Sam or Nancy will receive the tuition forgiveness.
- If you need to use a sick voucher during this time period, you must email Sam at smacy@shelbydd.org with the date(s) you wish to use the sick voucher. Additional sick vouchers will only be given with email communication directly with Sam.
I ask a few things of all of you during these trying times. First and formos,t please take care of yourselves and your children. We are all in this together and we only want the best for all of you. Also, please remember that Wilma Valentine Childcare is a non-profit childcare agency who have staff that rely on the income they make at the childcare center to live and support their families. If people are not paying tuition, we have no income source. If you owe us money on a past due balance, please pay it as we will desperately need the income.
If you are choosing to not send your child(ren) to childcare during this time, but have budgeted money for childcare and are able to still pay that amount or any portion of it in lieu of your weekly payment, we will send you a notice of a tax deductible donation to Wilma Valentine Childcare. Any donation you give during this time, in lieu of your childcare payment, is much appreciated and comes with the deepest gratitiude from all of us at Wilma Valentine Childcare.
On behalf of the WVC Board of Directors and all of the WVC staff, thank you for choosing Wilma Valentine Childcare and for sharing the good that we do for children in this community. We know that this trying time shall pass and before long we will all be out and about and celebrating the gifts we have with each other. We will be in further contact as the situation for childcare changes and evolves across the state. In the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy, and remember to take care of others who might need you during this time.
Sincerely,
Nancy Stiefel
WVC Director