United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County raised more than $200,000 for child care scholarships and other programs at Women United’s annual Power of the Purse on April 22nd. Access to quality, affordable child care can be one of the largest hurdles for parents trying to continue their education. Our scholarship program helps parents with the cost of child care so that they can focus on school and achieve economic mobility.
More than 112 purses were auctioned off from brands like Dolce and Gabbanna, Tory Burch, Saint Laurent Paris and Kate Spade. Proceeds from the auction will go toward child care scholarships and other community service programs.
“I am so impressed with all you have done to help everybody in your community by raising so much money in the last couple of years,” Jenna Bush Hager, who was the keynote speaker at the 2015 Power of the Purse, told the audience in a pre-recorded message.
At Power of the Purse, United Way also honored local community leader Suzanne Wade by presenting her with the Joci Straus Visionary Leader Award. Suzanne has been a dedicated advocate for United Way and a leader in the community for over three decades.
She first joined H-E-B in 1997 and served as the President of H-E-B’s SA Food and Drug Division from 2003 until her retirement in 2019. She has also served as a former Chair of Women United and was a driving force behind the first Power of the Purse hosted by United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County in 2015.
While much of the festivities focused on celebrating Suzanne’s commitment to community service and the auction, the central theme of the event was helping parents achieve their full potential through child care scholarships.
Our Ready Children Impact Council works with our Impact Partners to increase quality child care options in San Antonio. Early childhood education puts young children on the right path to future success. We are working with our partners to increase the quantity of good child care opportunities, support child care centers as they progress toward accreditation and provide professional development for education directors and teachers.
Access to quality child care is a major barrier for families as they strive for financial stability. The cost of child care can influence young parents to not complete their education, which can impact their economic mobility in the future.
“The biggest obstacle for women and any single parent to finishing their education is being able to have affordable, high-quality child care. When we provide these scholarships, it enables someone to complete their vocational school or college,” Suzanne said. “It changes their whole life because it changes their economic outlook for the rest of their life, and their kids are getting a step up too in their education. Your money cannot be spent for anything that is more valuable and worthwhile than that.”
Like Suzanne said, programs like this can be life-changing. Don’t just take it from us. Listen to scholarship recipient Devona talk about how the program helped her family.
Please visit our Child Care Scholarship page to learn more about the program and how you can apply.
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Categories: Women United |
