Stronger Together: How the Ellis County Child Care Task Force Built a Community Around Child Care
To learn more about the Child Care Community Champion Awards and the four pillars of recognition, check out this resource from Child Care Aware of Kansas.
When people think about child care, they often picture classrooms or homes filled with curious toddlers, shelves lined with picture books, or child care providers welcoming families at the beginning of the day. What they don’t always see are the countless partnerships working behind the scenes to make those moments possible. In Ellis County, those partnerships have become the foundation of something remarkable.
For its commitment to bringing businesses, child care providers, educators, health care leaders, parents, elected officials and community organizations together around a shared goal, the Ellis County Child Care Task Force has been recognized by Child Care Aware of Kansas as a Child Care Community Champion, under the pillar of Child Care Impact Partner. The recognition celebrates more than a single project or initiative—it honors years of collaboration, relationship-building and steady leadership that transformed a community challenge into a community-wide effort.
The work to build the Ellis County Child Care Task Force began with one simple realization: It’s a workforce issue, an economic issue, and ultimately, a community issue.
Child care isn’t just a family issue. It’s a workforce issue, an economic issue, and ultimately, a community issue.
A Challenge Too Big to Ignore
In the months following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses throughout Ellis County were struggling. Employees were missing work because child care programs were temporarily closing or operating with reduced capacity. Parents were forced to stay home. Essential workers—including many health care professionals—faced impossible decisions between caring for patients and caring for their own children.
As President and CEO of The Chamber in Hays, Sarah Wasinger heard the same concern over and over again during conversations with local businesses. “We had heard from probably about 50 to 60 members who were really struggling with child care for their employees,” she recalled.
One conversation, however, stayed with her. After meeting with leaders at HaysMed, Wasinger and a colleague sat together in the car before driving away.
“We just looked at each other and said, ‘We have to do something,'” she said. “We can’t just let this situation handle itself.”
The challenge extended far beyond any one business or family—it affected an entire community whose workforce depended on reliable child care. Rather than waiting for someone else to solve the problem, Wasinger brought an idea to The Chamber’s Board of Directors: create a community task force dedicated to understanding and addressing the child care challenges facing Ellis County.
The board agreed, and in October 2021, the Ellis County Child Care Task Force held its first meeting. However, no one knew quite what to expect.
Building From the Ground Up
The first meeting exceeded every expectation. More than 30 people showed up—so many, in fact, that organizers ran out of chairs. Child care center directors sat beside in-home child care providers. Parents joined the conversation alongside school representatives, health officials, business leaders, church representatives, elected officials and state partners. Organizations supporting early childhood education were there as well, each bringing a different perspective to the table. It was exactly the kind of collaboration the community would need.
Rather than beginning with predetermined solutions, the group started by asking questions: What did child care actually look like in Ellis County? Where were the biggest gaps? What did child care providers need? What did families need? How was the shortage affecting local businesses? These questions became the foundation for everything that followed.
Partnering with K-State Extension and Research, the task force conducted a community needs assessment that provided the data needed to guide future decisions. The findings painted a clear picture: At the time, Ellis County needed approximately 700 additional child care spaces to meet community demand. Among more than 800 survey respondents, 150 people said they would return to the workforce if child care were available. Ellis County was facing a workforce challenge that affected families, businesses, and the local economy alike.
The data also revealed another urgent need: infant care. Families were reserving child care spaces months before their babies were born, sometimes paying child care providers throughout an entire pregnancy simply to secure a spot after parental leave ended. For many families, there were few other options.
More Than Growing Child Care Capacity
As the task force identified priorities, members understood that increasing child care capacity would be important. They also recognized something equally critical: Supporting the people who already cared for children every day mattered just as much. Ellis County has long been home to a strong network of in-home child care providers, many of whom operate small businesses while caring for some of the community’s youngest learners.
Like communities across Kansas, Ellis County also experienced child care provider closures following the COVID-19 pandemic. While new child care providers have entered the field, maintaining a strong child care workforce continues to require intentional support. The task force knew lasting solutions would require more than opening new child care facilities—they would require building trusting relationships with existing child care providers.
One of the coalition’s earliest priorities became ensuring child care providers knew their work was seen, valued, and appreciated. At first, that looked simple. During the height of the pandemic, volunteers assembled appreciation bags filled with useful supplies and thoughtful gifts for child care providers.
Later, when gathering in person became possible again, the task force organized something even more meaningful. They invited child care providers from across the community to an appreciation dinner. The evening offered good food, conversation and a chance for child care providers to connect with one another—many for the first time.
What happened that night left a lasting impression on Wasinger. “Up until this moment,” child care providers told her,
“We didn’t think anybody cared about us.”
For many attendees, the gifts and recognition mattered, but what resonated even more was finally meeting the other professionals who shared the same calling. Although many knew one another through online groups, they had rarely gathered together in the same room. The appreciation event created celebration, and more than that, community.
Since then, the event has become an annual tradition, reminding child care providers that they are not working alone, and that their contributions are essential to the success of Ellis County.
First Trust, Then Progress
Coalition-building brings people together, but it requires a great deal of trust that is hard-earned. As Ellis County began expanding child care capacity through new projects and partnerships, task force members recognized that some existing child care providers worried about what those changes might mean for their own businesses. Would new centers reduce enrollment? Would long-standing child care providers lose their families? Would they be left behind as new investments entered the community?
Rather than ignoring those concerns, the coalition addressed them directly. Professional development opportunities, appreciation events, and ongoing communication became ways to ensure every child care provider—whether operating an in-home program or a center—felt included in the community’s vision.
That intentional relationship-building became one of the task force’s greatest strengths. Instead of treating child care providers as competitors, the coalition worked to strengthen the entire child care ecosystem. The result was a growing culture of collaboration built on shared purpose.
Turning Collaboration into Action
While relationship-building remained central to the coalition’s work, members also focused on creating tangible change. Over the past several years, the Ellis County Child Care Task Force has helped support projects that expand access to child care throughout the community. Letters of support written by the coalition helped secure grant funding for partnerships, including the collaboration between HaysMed and Bright Minds Academy, which added 77 new child care spaces. Additional grant support helped expand capacity at another child care center while supporting community organizations working to increase access for local families.
These successes were never viewed as accomplishments belonging to one organization. Instead, they reflected what could happen when businesses, nonprofits, child care providers, community foundations, local government, and regional partners worked toward the same goal. Every new classroom, every additional child care space, and every child care provider supported through professional development represented another step toward a stronger child caresystem.
Investing in the Future
The coalition’s work didn’t stop once new child care spaces opened, and members understood that sustaining progress required long-term investment. In 2025, the Chamber Board helped establish the Child Care Fund of Ellis County through the Heartland Community Foundation. With matching support from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, the fund continues to grow and will help provide resources supporting child care providers and future community initiatives.
The vision extends well beyond today. Task force members hope the fund will eventually help expand professional development opportunities, strengthen child care provider supports, and explore creative solutions to persistent challenges like infant care.
Wasinger also hopes future efforts will focus on supporting child care professionals themselves, and envisions finding new ways to help child care providers access benefits, plan for retirement, and continue building sustainable careers in early childhood education. She also believes Kansas communities have an opportunity to inspire the next generation to view child care as meaningful, respected professional work. “There are still a lot of things that need to be done,” she said.
The award recognizes how far the community has come, but the coalition sees it as motivation to continue moving forward.
A Blueprint for More Communities
One reason the Ellis County Child Care Task Force stands out is that its success wasn’t built on one large grant or major project, but on people.
“[The coalition’s] success wasn’t built on one large grant or major project, but on people.”
From the very beginning, coalition members intentionally invited diverse voices into the conversation. Businesses, parents, grandparents, school districts, child care providers, health care leaders, faith communities, state agencies, economic development partners, and community organizations all had something valuable to contribute; everyone experienced child care from a different perspective. That diversity became one of the coalition’s greatest strengths.
Looking back, Wasinger encourages other Kansas communities not to wait until every detail has been figured out before taking action. “It’s never too early to start, and it’s never too late to start,” she said.
“It’s never too early to start, and it’s never too late to start,”
She also encourages communities to learn from one another, rather than feeling pressure to build every solution from scratch.
Communities all across Kansas are facing similar challenges. Tactics like that of Ellis County, through sharing ideas, celebrating successes and adapting proven strategies, can help everyone move forward together.
Every Child, Every Community
When asked what she hopes people across Kansas understand about child care, Wasinger didn’t focus on economics or workforce numbers. Instead, she talked about children. “Every life matters,” she said. “Every child from birth on matters.”
She believes communities have a shared responsibility to ensure children have safe, nurturing environments where they can learn, grow and thrive—whether or not community members have children of their own. When communities invest in child care, they are helping shape tomorrow’s workforce, tomorrow’s leaders, and tomorrow’s communities.
That belief is reflected throughout everything the Ellis County Child Care Task Force has accomplished. The coalition has expanded child care capacity, elevated child care providers, strengthened partnerships, and created new opportunities for families to participate in the workforce. Most importantly, it has shown what is possible when an entire community chooses to work together.
The Child Care Community Champion Award recognizes those accomplishments and celebrates something larger: A community that refused to accept child care challenges as “someone else’s problem.” Instead, businesses, child care providers, educators, health care leaders, elected officials, foundations, volunteers, and families chose to share responsibility for creating solutions.
Together, they built a coalition grounded in trust, collaboration, and a shared commitment to Kansas children and families. In doing so, they created a model that communities across the state can look to as they strengthen child care—one partnership, one child care provider, and one child at a time.
A note from Sarah Wasinger:
The Child Care Task Force of Ellis County would not be what it is without the people listed below:
- Tori Ruder, Child Care Provider, Ruder Rugrats: She has been our home provider champion from the start and keeps our group’s efforts connected to our area’s local providers.
- Dana Stanton, Child Care Specialist, Innovation Center: She is an eternal champion for our task force and region’s providers and has successfully written the grants that fund our task force’s efforts.
- Andrew Cutright, Board Director, Hays Area Children’s Center and FHSU: He asks the powerful questions when we need to refocus efforts and has been a strong advocate and volunteer for our efforts.
- Kelly Horn, Owner/Director, Sunshine Connections: She has been a great supporter of our task force and has provided many volunteer hours.
- Monique Koerner, Cotton Wood Extension District Hays: She has helped facilitate workshops for providers and has also helped connect resources and volunteered for our events.
- Becky Rogowski, Director, Hays Area Children’s Center: She helps us understand things from a child care center perspective and has been a generous volunteer.
- Cierra Munk and Jan Kuckelman, Child Care Aware of Kansas: These ladies ensure we are aware of the resources provided by Child Care Aware of Kansas and have been so helpful in guiding our chamber as the task force’s facilitator.
- James Robben, Grow Hays: He is an inspirational talent at Grow Hays, who helped bring forth a senior center and child care center project for our community.
- Cristina Janney and Katie Dorzweiler, Eagle Media/Hays Post: We are thankful for their help in telling our story and running with our child Care Champion recognition program that was run for three years.
- Schmidt Foundation: For supporting our Child Care Provider Workshops and marketing efforts of our task force.
- Melissa Schoenberger, KDHE: For ensuring our task force understands the nuances of regulations and things coming down the pipeline, as well as the ways they will impact local providers.
- Mason Ruder, Hays City Mayor: For helping carry the message of importance of child care providers at the city level.
- Representative Barb Wasinger: For helping our task force when new providers faced licensure delays and for her time staying engaged with our groups’s efforts to support local providers.
To anyone else who has helped along the way, including our supportive business community, we say thank you!
Yours in service,
Sarah Wasinger