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Peninsula nonprofit helps families find child care and other services during COVID-19

Some parents are struggling to balance work and home right now. Smart Beginnings Virginia Peninsula is connecting families to child care providers who can help.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — As some businesses call employees back to work, families may be scrambling to find child care. 

"Families have had to piece together their child care, and they're piecing it together for longer than they thought they would have to piece it together," said Diane Umstead, Executive Director of Smart Beginnings Virginia Peninsula. 

The nonprofit is dedicated to preparing young children for school.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the group is helping parents find child care programs to meet their family's needs. 

"We have a child care specialist that...families can call," said Umstead. "And they can talk through where they live, the resources that they have, the age of their child...if they have a special need for their child."

Staff members are working remotely to continue running the organization's programs. They're also connecting families to important resources like free meals, mobile hot spots, and benefit programs. 

"Our impact is going to be stronger when we're working together and when each of us is sharing information and knowledge about what the other is doing," said Umstead. "Then, we can tell our families about everything else that's happening in the community for them."

The nonprofit is asking for the community's help to continue to support children and families adjusting to life during the crisis. 

"We want our children to be in safe, healthy environments...because we know that what we do in those first few years of life sets the stage for a child to be ready for school," said Umstead.

For more information about Smart Beginnings Virginia Peninsula, click here. You can also check out the group on Facebook.

For more on donating or supporting the organization in other ways, visit their website.

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