Rural Homes Early Childhood Initiative

The goal of the Rural Homes Early Childhood Initiative (RHECI) is to simultaneously address the housing and childcare shortages of the region through integrating new affordable home construction with new family home childcare operations. The RHECI has tested this model as a pilot project within the Rural Homes Waterview Development in Ouray, CO by running an accelerator program that provides new Family Child Care Home Providers (FCCHPs) with the tools to start stable businesses within the two new FCCHP-designed units of the neighborhood. By packaging direct services into an integrated accelerator program for potential FCCHPs with the training, home and resources needed to start new, licensed family childcare home businesses, the RHECI model could serve as a unique opportunity for communities and prospective childcare entrepreneurs across Colorado.

Background- The RHECI started in the form of a strategic plan and a key advisory committee made of statewide and national experts in the fields of Early Childhood education and key local stakeholders including Bright Futures, the regional early childhood council in Ouray County. This team, led by a project manager from Rural Homes, spearheaded the planning, design, programming and staffing for the RHECI in Ouray at Waterview Homes. A bilingual staff member was brought on to recruit and train prospective and hopeful FCCHPs through the accelerator, which covered the necessary components of early childhood care and education, business operations expertise, and coaching and training on how to start and grow a FCCHP operation using the All Our Kin national curriculum. Once trained, the final two providers were interviewed, selected and given the opportunity to move into one of the two homes, which were designed specifically to meet the needs of FCCH providers and stragically located within the neighborhood. The two homes were purchased by Mission Driven Finance as a childcare friendly landlord that gives the selected providers the eventual opportunity for home ownership. Each of the three-bedroom homes — considered four-bedroom because of the child care area – include large indoor and outdoor play areas and were sold to Mission Driven Finance for $479,000 each, far below their cost of construction. Thanks to subsidy from donors, the rent for the providers is well below market rate to allow the providers to grow their business from a start-up to the large license capacity of 12 children each while they increase their capacity for homeownership. Furthermore, providers were provided with a grant to help cover the startup costs of purchasing childcare furnishings for their space.