Licensed Childcare Providers: Access Free Educational Toys and Materials Through the Resource Center

The Childcare Provider Resource Center is here to support licensed providers in Platte, Colfax, Boone, and Nance counties by offering free access to toys and educational materials. This lending library is designed to help you enhance your childcare program with high-quality resources.

Available items include:

·       Social-emotional toys and games

·       Blocks and math activities

·       Sensory materials

·       Dramatic play resources

·       And much more!

Items are available to check out and check out can be flexible!

 If you have a relationship with a child care provider or are a provider yourself, please consider sharing the flyer with those that could use these resources! Full downloadable flyer is below.

Youth and Families Thrive Training Coming in December

If you want to learn more about working with children and families by using a strengths-based approach for positive change, consider attending the Youth and Families Thrive training. Youth and Families Thrive Nebraska is an approach that focuses on strengthening children and family so that all can thrive. Some of the promotive/protective factors that will be discussed are knowledge of parenting and child and adolescent development, social-emotional competence, resilience, social connections, and concrete supports. This approach is evidence informed and is designed to integrate into current practices to help people live a better life.

This training will take place over three days in December: December 1^st, December 8^th, and December 15^th. Please see the flyer attachment below to register for this training.

Did You Know?

In Nebraska, more than nine out of ten counties do not have enough licensed child care slots to meet local demand. Many programs struggle because staff wages must stay low to keep tuition affordable—making it difficult to retain quality teachers. With the average early-childhood educator earning around $14 per hour, consistent, high-quality care is hard to find.

This shortage deeply affects families in Platte, Colfax, Boone and Nance Counties, where parents face tough trade-offs between work and care, and our region’s long-term vitality is at stake.

What Is We Care for Kids Week?

We Care for Kids Week (an initiative of NebraskaCaresforKids.org) celebrates the vital role early childhood educators play in our communities and raises awareness about the importance of quality child care for every Nebraska family. It is a statewide call to action reminding us that when we invest in early care and education, we invest in our future workforce, schools, and communities. By joining this effort, we can reaffirm our commitment to ensuring children, families, and local providers have the support they need to thrive.

To celebrate We Care for Kids week, children and staff were encouraged to dress as their favorite superhero! Every child and teacher is a hero- showing kindness, courage, creativity, and care for others. Spend time appreciating the heroes who make learning and growing possible every day.

Thank you for ensuring a brighter future for all children, families, and our community.

Transportation Update

The Transit Taskforce met to review the current funding landscape. State and Federal matching funds, which previously covered 75% of costs, are no longer available. As a result, any program or service expansion must now be fully funded through local community resources.

In light of this, the taskforce reached a consensus to scale back the initial expansion and instead launch a smaller pilot project, targeting a local industry partner. The goal is to demonstrate the value of expanded transit services in hopes that workforce and industry leaders will recognize the benefits and support future growth.

As a reference point, Columbus Community Hospital has implemented its own limited patient transportation system. While eligibility is restricted, the taskforce sees this as a potential model for engaging local industry leaders in conversations about funding similar services—tailored to support employee recruitment, retention, and development.

Currently, several taskforce members are scheduling meetings with industry representatives to present the concept and explore launching a locally funded pilot project.

Connecting in the Community

Part of my job that I really enjoy is being able to attend events in the community while representing the United Way. Over the last couple of months, we have been doing a ton of outreach in the schools, in the industries, and at other events, including ones thrown by organizations like our own Women United. It is a great thing to be able to talk to community members one-on-one and answer their questions about who we are and what we do.

Earlier this month I attended the Community Resource Fair at Lost Creek Elementary, where I was able to speak with families about our mental health resources, 211, and some of our partner agencies (it is also always fun to hand out our branded swag). These events also give those of us at nonprofits the chance to meet, talk, and even collaborate. Establishing these connections with both community members and representatives of other organizations is what keeps us strong!

The Behlen Health Fair was another wonderful opportunity to promote and answer questions about our many health-related resources. And we are not even close to being done for the year – or even this month! This week we will be at the Living Swell event, and later this month we will be at the Halloween Parade in Albion. Come find our booth, talk to us about resources, and do not forget to grab some ChapStick and stress balls!

Missed the October 1st Collaborative Meeting? We have you covered!



See what you missed below!

Ready to be a changemaker for families? Join the Bring Up Nebraska Network! 

Bring Up Nebraska is a call to action to help families thrive and is supported by Nebraska Children and Families Foundation. Bring Up Nebraska is focused on prevention and strengthening families BEFORE crisis to empower them within their communities. It is about uniting those with shared agendas, implementing systems and providing evidence-based training to support meaningful opportunities and creating partnerships. 

Helping families thrive and focusing on preventive efforts is a priority area of Community and Family Partnership and more voices are needed. The more people involved in the shared mission of improving the quality of life for young people and families, the more impact we can have. Let’s do this together. See more information in the flyer below or visit BringUpNebraska.org.

Have you visited the Schuyler Community Book Garden??

Check it out!

Like what you see? Want to share the news?

Download your own copies of these flyers by clicking on the picture!