The Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) is partnering with regional funders and local partners to get resources into the hands of the largely small, women- and people of color-owned businesses that provide this critical service and will be hard pressed to survive the closures affecting communities across the nation.

Since March 2020, LIIF has deployed $40 million in grants through our Child Care Emergency Relief Effort for family child care and center-based small businesses in New York City, the California, and Washington, DC. The relief funding will go directly to child care business owners to cover staff salaries, rent and other operating expenses. This support builds on the work being done by LIIF through our partnership with Community Reinvestment Fund, USA to support child care providers in applying for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Through these efforts, LIIF has served 1,300 child care businesses. LIIF’s relief efforts were seeded by The JPB Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the Greater Washington Community Foundation, First 5 Alameda County, and the Goldman Sachs Foundation and now include 16 funders.

LIIF’s emergency response is informed by more than 20 years of experience supporting early care and education providers with more than $150 million in grants and technical assistance that has supported more than 270,000 slots. While meeting the immediate needs of ECE providers is our top priority, this is an opportunity to rethink how we invest in our early education system as a nation. We should not simply shore up the largely women-owned small businesses that dominate this field in the short-term. We need to ensure they have a strong foundation for the future. This is critical for our nation’s economic recovery and long-term success. Read more about our platform for investing in ECE in an article from our President and on our National Policy page.