Dear Community,

We, the members of the Bay Area Childcare Collective, are a group of people who provide free childcare to social justice organizations who are working to end poverty and racism in the Bay Area. We are writing to you because we urgently need more childcare providers to offer 2-3 hours of your time per month. We are facing some challenges because there is a much greater need for childcare in grassroots social justice organizations than we are able to fill with our current member capacity. The Childcare Collective was formed both in response to the very real need for childcare among social justice organizations and as part of a long-term effort to build a multi-generational movements with parents, women and children at the center.

We are committed to providing grassroots organizations and movements composed of and led by immigrant women, low-income women, and women of color with trained, competent, patient and politicized childcare providers for one-time events or ongoing meetings. Currently we work with The Women's Collective of the Day Labor Program, a cooperative run by and for immigrant women workers uniting to create safety, dignity and power among it's working members. We also support POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights), an organization that works with thousands of low-income people to find their own voice and ways to end poverty especially in the Bayview neighborhood and among low income domestic workers.

In the near future we would like to support Generation Five, working to end child sexual abuse at the roots, and Just Cause Oakland, a housing justice organization. We see childcare as a political act. We emphasize accountability, both to the organizations we partner with, and to the children and parents we work with.

We need people to commit to doing 2-3 hours of childcare once per month every month with a 6 month commitment. Speaking Spanish is wonderful but totally not necessary. We need our community to help us recruit more members so we can continue to be accountable to our partner organizations. We need to recruit 40 new members to provide childcare once a month for 2-3 hours and 5 new core organizers to commit to 10-15 hours of work per month including meetings, childcare and other fun tasks. We are also looking for core organizers to commit to 2 years and interns to commit to 3 month periods.

Some things we love about providing childcare:

* Creating a space for radical educational fun
* Meeting other fun and dedicated social justice organizers
* Acting in solidarity with immigrant parents and low income women of color
* Practicing Spanish
* Being creative and playing with kids!
* Gaining creative problem solving skills


In order for any movement to succeed, its ideas must be passed on from generation to generation. Please pass this letter along to your friends and community.

Please contact us at sfchildcarecollective@riseup.net
www.myspace.com/childcarecollective
510-484-5671

Love and solidarity,
The Bay Area Childcare Collective

Courtney Ham
Michelle Gerster
Ari Clemenzi
Philipe Lonestar
Evan Schloss
Alana Pinsler
Salena Copeland
Maren Abromowitz
Encian
Dendron
Dana Ullman
Heather Love

& 30 more of your friends and community members

Each volunteer commits to do each of the following:

1. Perform childcare at least once each month, preferably signing up for a regular shift (such as the first Friday of every month).

2. Keep the Collective supplied with current contact information: a phone number and email address.

3. Return ALL phone calls to the Collective, even if it is to say that they aren't available.

4. Attend one orientation close to when you join. If there isn't an orientation scheduled, the New Member Coordinator will arrange a one-on-one mini-training with you.

5. Attend quarterly volunteer in-services and trainings. (4 times a year.) These are important times to get to meet other volunteers, address challenges, and build practical skills for use during childcare.

Doing childcare can be a fun and rewarding way to show solidarity with low-income Women of Color organizers in the Bay Area!

The Childcare Collective works with any organization that fits within the scope of our mission and depending on our capacity. Here is a list of organizations for whom we currently provide childcare:

POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights), a membership organization of low- and no-wage workers who work on economic justice issues.

The Women's Collective of the San Francisco Day Labor Program; a collective of women workers.

St. Peter's Housing Committee

The Childcare Collective consists of a base of volunteer providers, who commit to provide childcare at least once a month, and a Core Committee, which makes operational and logistical decisions for the group, and performs necessary administrative work.

Each organization we work with has an Event Coordinator who plans childcare and responds to the needs of that particular group. We also have a New Member and Outreach Coordinator.

If you are interested in joining the Core Committee, please contact us at childcarecollective@lycos.com. We do require that Core members had preformed childcare through the Collective at least 5 times over a two-month period to join.