Several local groups have teamed to survey Cowley County families in regard to how Covid-19 has affected area childcare and educational needs.
That new survey is available at legacyregionalfoundation.org. It will be available for completion through the month of October.
Legacy Community Foundation, the K-State Research and Extension Office, Cowley First Economic Development Partnership, and the Early Literacy Initiative partnered to develop the survey. The goal is to have 500 families and households participate and provide information.
The survey creation and distribution effort grew out of a monthly virtual check-in of nonprofit leadership in the community throughout the Covid crisis these past six months.
A central need, the issue of childcare, was repeatedly offered as a crisis point in our community (and across much of the nation). The lack of quality childcare options, particularly for children ages 0-3, has long been an issue in the community. But the pandemic and accompanying necessary changes to public school have exacerbated the challenges, area officials said.
On top of a statewide problem of a lack of childcare spots for infants and young toddlers, many parents and other caregivers are facing the challenge of having to juggle work, remote learning experiences, and childcare for their school-aged children as well.
Serving sponsors and community leaders hope to learn how families are handling these challenges and what their most pressing needs are, particularly related to childcare and education for their children.
To this point, tutoring help for children, a regular babysitter, literacy development resources, mental health supports and access to nutritious food have been identified as issues. Through the survey, officials hope to prioritize needs and potentially identify others.
The goal is to use information gleaned to help direct and inform future community initiatives.
More than 20+ nonprofits collaborated to offer feedback and context for the community survey and will be distributing it through their networks.
The City-Cowley Health Department aided in translating the survey to Spanish.
Survey respondents are eligible for a weekly drawing of $50 towards their utility bill or toward a gift card to a local business of their choice (participating in the Rally Cowley initiative).
