Recent days and weeks have been challenging for all of us. From our corner of the world, we know families across the globe are struggling to manage child care during this time. Sitters are eager to help families, but are also concerned about doing it safely. There’s a lot to navigate as uncertainty continues to build.
Sittercity is a small company with a big mission—to make child care finally work. We know that access to child care is critical to a functioning society. We stand with our families and sitters who are demanding support. We’re taking this crisis extremely seriously and working to do what we can during this unprecedented time.
Access to Child Care
As a company based in the Chicago, we have partnered with the Chicago Mayor’s Office to host a Chicago Responds program. We are waiving our fees for Chicago First Responders for at least three months and giving locals the opportunity to volunteer their child care services. Visit sittercity.com/chicagoresponds for full details.
There are many other essential professions that can’t offer the luxury of working from home and these working parents are scrambling to find child care. While we cannot eliminate all the hurdles that many families face, our tools have helped millions of sitters and families connect throughout the years. Our platform represents sitters and families in 95% of zip codes in the U.S.
Starting on March 16, we reduced our monthly fee by 50% through the end of the month for any new Premium members. By lowering our rate, we’re doing what we can to ensure that all families have the access they may need while also maintaining the resources needed to keep our platform running for the families and sitters who need it.
Flattening the Curve
In addition to opening our service to more people in need, our internal team is doing their part to flatten the curve. Our offices instituted a work-from-home policy on March 13. Typically, our team supports local businesses by ordering team lunch to eat together once each week. Even though we can’t gather around a meal together right now, we’re still doing our part to support local restaurants. We’re ordering lunch for delivery when the restaurants need us now more than ever. We’re using Dining at a Distance—a site developed specifically to aggregate what restaurants are open for take-out, curbside pick-up, or delivery during the lockdown of restaurants and bars during COVID-19.
Trust and Respect
Overall, we’re a community built on trust and respect. We’re asking everyone in our community to follow CDC recommendations and local officials on how to best navigate social interaction during this crisis, as information is updating rapidly.
Though we have never encountered a time like this before, our team is continuing our work as a trusted resource for our families and sitters. That means making improvements to our platform, sharing relevant information to those who need it, and providing the space for connections to be made with ease and safety. That work has not changed.
Child care is and always will be about the human need to care for one another. How and where that care takes place might evolve, but the heart of it will always remain.
