MEDIA ADVISORY FOR MAY 8 AND MAY 12 2025
MEDIA CONTACT:
Samantha Hart, media@communitychange.org, 202-339-9316
“Babies Over Billionaires:” 870+ Providers to Close Their Doors for Fourth Annual National Day Without Child Care
Thousands of providers, parents, and allies nationwide plan to take action to demand protections for and investments in a care economy, and denounce recent attacks on basic needs programs our families rely on with 100 events across 26 states and D.C.
RSVP to virtual press conference here
Nationwide – Community Change Action’s 4th Annual National Day Without Child Care will call to protect ALL of our care—child care, healthcare, Head Start, food support, home care–because we know when you come for one of us, you come for all of us. Care is at the core of making life and work possible, but for too long, Republicans have ignored this essential facet of our lives and made it harder for people to get the care they need to thrive.
As the childcare crisis wages on, leaving families in the lurch and forcing providers to close their doors or go without, Republicans passed budget blueprints that will further jeopardize the basic needs programs millions of people need to survive. They are choosing to cut funding for Medicaid, leaving millions of people without health coverage, many of them children and pregnant people; they’ve suggested completely eliminating Head Start, which ensures thousands of children get the early childhood education they need to set them up for a bright future; and they’ve proposed significantly reducing funding for SNAP, which helps millions of people with disabilities, seniors, and children eat.
And, they’re raising prices on all of us to fund tax breaks for billionaires and fund their deportation machine.
Our demands put families first: thriving wages for providers, affordable care for families, a childcare system based on racial and gender equity, no cuts to Head Start, and no cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.
The day of action will take place with events nationwide on Monday, May 12, 2025 and we invite members of the media to attend a pre-event virtual press conference on Thursday, May 8, 2025 to hear from providers who are participating by shutting their doors, hosting an event, or both.
You can find a full list of actions taking place here: cca.is/dwocc.
VIRTUAL PRESS CONFERENCE
WHAT: Virtual press conference with providers participating in Day Without Child Care
WHEN: Thursday, May 8, 2025, 12:00PM ET/9:00AM PT
WHERE: RSVP for the Zoom here
WHO:
- Janna Rodriguez, Childcare Changemaker, early childhood educator, Innovative Day Care Corp, Long Island, New York
- Tarezz Thompson, owner of Linique Childcare and Head Start provider, Columbus, Ohio
- Octavia McLaurin, owner of Kreative Minds, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Kristyn Rose, Childcare Changemaker, early childhood educator, Destination Imagination Childcare and Playschool, Hyde Park, Utah
- Clarissa Doutherd of Parent Voices Oakland and Candice Vickers of Family Forward Oregon, recent plaintiffs in an ACLU lawsuit to protect Head Start from funding cuts
DAY OF ACTION
WHAT: 2025 Community Change Action Day Without Child Care
WHEN: Monday, May 12, 2025
WHERE: Cities and states across the country, including Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, and more.
Anchor events include:
- Columbus, OH – Over 1,000 people will attend a rally hosted by the Ohio Organizing Collaborative at the statehouse to push legislators to pass policies that will sustain and support Ohio’s childcare system.
- Philadelphia, PA – Early childhood educators, teachers, providers, families and policymakers will come together at City Hall to speak truth to the need for higher compensation for providers and lower costs for families, hosted by Voice of ECE.
- Washington, DC – SPACES in Action will host a speak out and story share for providers and families at Freedom Plaza.
- Raleigh, NC – Providers and families will participate in a Child Care Rally and Stroll-A-Thon to the NC General Assembly, with NC State Representatives invited to attend and speak as well as listen to stories from providers and parents.
- Baton Rouge, LA – ECE providers/owners, teachers, parents, business owners, community members, and more will join at the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol to demand solutions for a better future, hosted by For Providers, By Providers.
- St. Louis, MO – WEPOWER will host a rally for providers and families, encouraging kids in attendance to wear their favorite superhero costumes.
WHO: Community Change Action Childcare Changemakers and partners, childcare providers, parents, and national allies
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