If you care for children in your home, you already know it has to be several things at once, a workplace, a caregiving space, and a family home. What’s in the air matters in all three.
We interviewed Family Child Care providers in Pittsburg and heard something consistent. A healthy home isn’t a set of building systems. It’s whether the children in your care are safe, comfortable, and breathing well.
“Health, asthma, and allergies, that’s what a healthy home means to me.”
“Love, safety, caring.”
Providers also told us about cost. PG&E bills came up in every conversation, and running a program at home makes them higher. Among providers who took our survey, financial hardship from energy bills was more common than among other households.
Gas stoves release nitrogen dioxide and fine particles into the air inside your home. Children breathe faster than adults and their lungs are still developing, which makes them more affected by the same exposure.
If you cook meals for the children in your care, your kitchen is running longer and harder than most. In Pittsburg, asthma rates are higher than in 97% of California communities.
Some of the programs available in Contra Costa County today offer bill discounts, free appliances, or home improvements for income-qualified households. Family child care homes are eligible for many of them.
Our upgrade program sets aside a share of its work specifically for family child care homes — recognizing that improving the air in one home improves it for every child who spends their days there. We’re seeking the funding to run it.
Providers told us clearly what would make participation possible, and the design reflects it:
We’ll let you know when the Healthy Homes Hub opens for applications, and share programs and events relevant to family child care in the meantime.