Overcoming Box Butte’s Child Care Desert
Access to child care is a growing concern throughout greater Nebraska. Currently, 36% of rural Nebraskans live in a child care “desert,” where there are more than three children under age 5 for each licensed child care slot. In a recent survey, 61% of rural Nebraskans agreed there is a shortage of affordable child care options in their community.
A lack of quality child care forces people to miss work, pass on job opportunities, and even leave the workforce altogether. Most Nebraskans recognize the importance of child care for the growth of their community, and think boosting access should be a priority. Often it falls to the communities themselves to find solutions.
Shannon Seidler, a former registered nurse and licensed in-home child care provider in Alliance, Nebraska, has seen the problem grow for years.
“We had several licensed providers in our community who retired,” Shannon said. They had been providing child care for 30, 40, some of them 50 years, and we weren’t really seeing any young people come onboard and take those spots. I know there are several people throughout our community who do watch children, but we just did not have enough to cover the demand.”
Box Butte General Hospital (BBGH) CEO Lori Mazanec understands the problem all too well. She has had employees who were not able to return following maternity leave because child care was not available for their infants.
“All workforce shortages are impactful, but especially nursing and ancillary services that leave us short of taking care of patients,” Lori said. “That truly impacts our business model.”
Shannon had cared for Lori’s children at her in-home child care center, Lighthouse Christian Daycare. Over the years they grew close. As Lori began to have high-level discussions about child care with her senior leadership team, she also discussed the issue with Shannon.
In November 2022, Shannon told Lori she had an opportunity for grant money and needed a community partner. “I said, ‘The grant is due in a couple of weeks,’ and Lori said, ‘Let’s go. Let’s do it.’”
BBGH and Lighthouse Christian Daycare applied for a grant through the American Rescue Plan Act and were awarded $200,000 as part of the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation’s Communities for Kids initiative. They also received a second grant in the amount of $261,643 from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Business and Child Care Partnership Grant.
Much of the award was used to renovate an existing building on the BBGH campus, and the Building Blocks Playschool opened in November 2023. All of the children enrolled at Shannon’s in-home business were guaranteed a spot at the new location, and all BBGH employees receive a 20% discount on child care fees. They also reserve drop-in spots for employees who need last-minute child care.
“The center has a play-based curriculum,” Shannon said. “We spend a lot of time with manners and conflict resolution, and how to understand emotions. We’re teaching sign language and Spanish. No child learns exactly the same way and we can really cater to our children in their style of learning, which is wonderful. The children are thriving.”
Lori’s own daughter is a nurse aide at BBGH, and her 15-month-old grandson attends the new day care.
“I get to drop him off on days that she works, and just to see the happy kids and the happy workers, it’s pretty awesome,” she said. “I love rural health because it allows me to raise my family here.”
Shannon Seidler
Former RN and Day Care Provider
Lori Mazanec
CEO, Box Butte General Hospital
