LYNNWOOD, Wash. — At one point, Amelia Williams and her husband were paying nearly half of their full-time incomes for daycare for their two kids.
The weight of that financial load was crushing.
"We were essentially playing roulette on which bills we were gonna pay, which bills had the least late fees," Amelia said.
The family staved off eviction and reluctantly used food banks, but the situation was taking a toll on their 9-year-old son, Aaron.
"My son started getting depressed," Amelia said. "He was always in his room, didn’t want to come out because we didn't really have food for him to eat if he was hungry."
At one point, the couple didn't have enough money for groceries so Aaron offered up his life savings -- $150. Amelia had no choice but to take it.
"It was heartbreaking," she said. "It makes me feel like I don't do enough for my kids. It makes me feel like I wasn't supporting them the way I should, that I wasn't there for them."
But Amelia's family was lucky. At least they had a place to send their kids.
According to the State Department of Children, Youth and Families, there are about 35,000 kids who need daycare in Snohomish County, alone, but fewer than 10,000 actual spaces.
Wait lists extend for five or six months.
There is an especially critical need in cities like Everett, Lynnwood, Edmonds, Mill Creek, Arlington, Darrington and Tulalip where so-called "daycare deserts" sprawl.
Now, Snohomish County is making more than $7 million in federal COVID relief money available to renovate and expand current daycare facilities.
The deadline to apply for the county funds is Jan. 13.
“A major barrier to people joining or returning to the workforce is the lack of available child care," says Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers. "The effects of child care deserts across our county impact all of us, but they have an even more acute impact on women, who are pushed out of the job market at higher rates due to the extremely high cost of child care.
Somers said that is why they want to expand access, especially where child care is extremely scarce.
"I think this could be huge," says the Boys and Girls Clubs of Snohomish County's Ruth Cassidy. "This will add capacity to an overburdened system. I think it could give people the opportunity to serve more kids and have the space to do it."
For Amelia, the money means fewer families will be put into the position hers was, and fewer burdens on innocent kids.
"Aaron's birthday just happened. He got $200 and he's able to save it for what he wants and not have to help provide for himself," she says.
The couple has taken advantage of other COVID-related daycare subsidies offered by Snohomish County and are now much more capable of putting food on their dinner table.
They are also in the process of paying their generous little boy back.