Care-sharing is an age-old concept used by humans since, well, forever! Daycares have become the new gold standard of childcare. They became the gold standard for many reasons. They are convenient. They always have licensed staff. They are State regulated. These are all compelling reasons to use a daycare. But of course this gold standard comes at the price of gold. Sometimes daycare is higher than our mortgages! So let me tell you about Care-Sharing and how to use it at the Care Exchange. It certainly doesn't work for every family, but if you can find your Village, the savings are astronomical.
Care-sharing uses form responses to match families together and connect them on private channels. This ensures the privacy of families, but enables an open space to build a Village of care-givers.
The Care Exchange Community is built on Slack "Villages" based on these factors:
When they work (weekdays vs weekends; daytime shift vs night shift)
The school district they fall in
Their willingness to use the Care Exchange sub directory
A private Slack channel or "Village" is created for each unique combination of form responses.
Once in your Village, get to know each other! You'll need to determine:
What day(s) you can provide care for the Village
If your Village is willing to use subs, who is willing to be a host home in the event a sub is needed.
If your Village is not willing to use subs, what is the plan in the event a family cannot care for the Village on their regular day.
Family A (2 Children) - Host home for Village on Mondays
Family B (1 Child) - Host home for Village on Tuesdays
Family C (1 Child) - Host home for Village on Wednesdays
Family D (2 Children) - Host home for Village on Thursdays
Family E (1 Child) - Host home for Village on Fridays
In this scenario, each family could work 4 days a week and watch the Village 1 day a week. All for ZERO dollars!
Family A (2 Children) - Host home for Village on Sundays
Family B (1 Child) - Host home for Village every other Saturday
Family C (1 Child) - Host home for Village on opposite Saturdays
In this scenario, Family B and C may agree to pay Family A for caring for the Village an extra day.
✅Create a free Slack account in the Care Exchange workspace
✅Fill out the Join the Village form
✅Click the link in your Welcome Email to the private Village Slack Channel
The rest is up to your Village! We help families find families.