KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Kalamazoo County is preparing to roll out roughly $6 million in childcare funding after voters approved a millage on Aug. 4, with money expected to start flowing in January.
The millage is designed to address two of the biggest challenges in early childhood care: the high cost of childcare for families and low wages for the workers who provide it. On average, 71% of early childcare workers make less than $15 an hour, according to the Early Childhood Investment Corporation.
At Evergreen Childhood Development Center in Kalamazoo, workers say the funding could change their lives and the lives of the families they serve.
"If you have people taking care of your kids, how do you expect them to take care of your kids, if they can't live? Why would I come to work and can't feed my own kids, but I'm making sure everybody else's kids here so they can go out and live," Pamela Speikes, an Evergreen CDC worker, said.
Speikes said the connection between childcare access and workforce participation is direct.
Watch: Kalamazoo County childcare millage to bring $6 million in funding starting in January 2027
"You can't work if you don't have childcare. So it runs together," Speikes said.
Fellow Evergreen CDC worker Christina Gunn said higher wages are long overdue.
"That we get what we deserve. ... We work hard. We're not getting what we deserve," Gunn said.
Kalamazoo County is now developing a road map for how to spend the millage funds.
Next steps include hiring someone to oversee the millage and forming an advisory task force made up of community members and commissioners. Sign-up information for the task force is expected soon. The job listing is already posted.
Kent County has operated a similar millage since 2018, called Ready by Five. The most recently available data from 2024 shows the program impacts more than 11,000 families through services ranging from play-and-learn programs to home visits for families in need. A majority of families served earn less than $40,000 annually.
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