Skip to main content

Oregon child care providers worry about staying afloat amid coronavirus crisis

May 2, 2020

Growing Seeds Learning Community has cared for thousands of young children in Portland since it opened its doors in 2004. Earlier this year, Growing Seeds North, the child care center's largest outpost, was welcoming 160 students a day. That changed on March 23 when Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued a statewide stay home order in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Oregon senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, along with Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., also announced last week that they will push for the next coronavirus relief bill to include $50 billion for child care. But debates over what will go in the bill remain ongoing, leaving many child care providers in a precarious financial situation as they try to continue to weather the COVID-19 crisis.