Mother Forward

Brittany, WA

Meet Brittany! Brittany lives in Walla Walla, Washington with her husband and their two boys. Brittany worked in health care administration for 13 years before making a career shift to being a full time caregiver for her littles ones.

Brittany and her family used a shared nanny for childcare with her first son, but after that care provider left the profession and her second son was born, she was unable to find a childcare provider that met their needs. Through this experience and personal research on the issue, Brittany came to understand that the inability to secure adequate childcare is not a personal failing but a systematic failing. This realization and pressure from lack of action by Congress motivated her to speak up for herself and other families.

Brittany would like to say to anyone struggling with child care or thinking about getting involved, “The people most affected by this issue are those who have the least amount of time/energy to advocate for it to change. For those already at max bandwidth and feeling like you don’t have anything left to contribute to this cause, please know this: 1. anything is better than nothing (2 minute to make a phone call to your congressperson’s office? 5 minutes to write an email sharing your story? That’s enough!) 2. there are people who see your struggle and are advocating on your behalf.”

Ashley, UT

We often call moms “superheroes”, and Ashley truly is a superhero of a mom! Not only is Ashley a mom to two kids (one with autism) and child care provider, but she recently started a nonprofit in her community to help provide local funding to families who cannot afford childcare! Wow!

Ashley live sin southern Utah with her husband, Jed, and their two children, Emry and Howie. Ashley decided to open her child care program in the middle of the pandemic to provide support to her sister’s family. Since then, Ashley’s program has doubled in size and her sister has started her own child care program.

Ashley is motivated to keep advocating for other families after having been hurt by people in power. After a doctor ignored Ashley’s efforts to advocate for her husband’s medical needs, she realized that “hundreds of thousands of families feel the way I did that day-unable to have their needs met, humiliated, and misunderstood.”

Ashley would like you to know that “There is not just one way to fix child care; there are millions of little ways. And those ways start with YOUR ideas. Move towards your ideals and others will see what you are doing and not only believe in you but join you, too.”