After giving birth to her daughter, Salem Zekariyas wanted a job that would let her stay home during her child’ s crucial early years. As she spoke with other families in her West Virginia community, she realized many were in a similar position. They were struggling to find safe, reliable child care. Starting her own in-home program felt like the right fit: Zekariyas could support other families while also staying home with her daughter until she was ready for preschool.
She had a knack for working with kids and quickly became a trusted caregiver in her community, but as any entrepreneur knows, running a business takes more than just care, commitment or talent. Zekariyas could manage the day-to-day needs of the children with ease, but navigating business licenses, marketing and financial decisions was a different story. Families would come to her seeking care, but she had no idea what to charge.
“ People would come who didn’ t have a lot of money, and it was hard for me to say,‘ This is what I charge,’” Zekariyas says.“ I would be so worried about overcharging them. A lot of people have no idea how to handle the business side of running a program.” Zekariyas’ s story is increasingly common and urgent. Like most of the country, West Virginia is facing a child care crisis. Nearly 65 % of the state’ s residents live in a child care desert, where the need for care far exceeds available providers. This gap in child care access represents a major barrier to economic participation. Without reliable and affordable options, many parents are forced to reduce their hours, leave the workforce entirely or turn down job opportunities. For employers, the ripple effects are significant, including higher turnover, lower productivity and greater difficulty attracting and retaining talent.
In fact, child care challenges cost West Virginia more than $ 460 million in lost earnings and productivity each year.
Last year, West Virginia’ s labor force participation rate stood at just 54.8 %— the lowest in the nation. The lack of accessible, affordable child care throughout the state is a driving factor.
One of the most promising answers to this crisis is also one of the most overlooked: small, community-based providers like Zekariyas operating out of living rooms, church basements or community centers. Home-based child care offers a flexible and often more affordable option for families, especially in rural areas where traditional centers are few and far between. However, when individuals try to launch their own programs, they often run into the same challenges Zekariyas did.
That’ s why the West Virginia Small Business Development Center( SBDC) launched Child Care West Virginia earlier this year. With funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission, the initiative is working to create 40 new child care providers while supporting 50 existing ones with business services and coaching. The SBDC will also pilot a tri-share model that splits child care costs among parents, employers and the state.
To help achieve these goals, the SBDC partnered with Wonderschool, a national platform that helps educatorsturned-entrepreneurs launch and operate sustainable child care programs. From business coaching and licensing support to parent communications and payment processing, Wonderschool takes the back-office burden off providers so they can focus on the children and families they serve.
Wonderschool is also administering the state’ s innovative tri-share child care model, which has shown promising results in Michigan, North Carolina and Kentucky. For businesses, it’ s a strategic investment that helps improve employee productivity, reduce absenteeism and strengthen recruitment and retention. By sharing responsibility, tri-share makes child care more accessible, affordable and sustainable.
Since connecting to Wonderschool’ s platform, Zekariyas’ s outlook— and her business— have transformed. She has learned how to better engage with parents, understand their needs and set prices that are both fair and sustainable. Her daughter is now 3 and starting pre-K, but Zekariyas is still running her program. These days, she’ s focused on strengthening her marketing and continuing to grow.
“ When I’ m ready to expand, I know I’ ll have tools to make things easier,” Zekariyas says.“ These programs really support people like me who are still building their business. They’ re a great help.”
As West Virginia looks to solve its child care challenges, stories like Zekariyas’ s show what’ s possible. The state is now recruiting caregivers and educators who are interested in establishing their own child care businesses.
With the right support from state and business leaders, child care providers can do more than care for children— they can help power West Virginia’ s workforce. As the state works to expand access to affordable child care, solutions that center and strengthen providers will be essential to keeping parents in the workforce. The infrastructure may be local and homegrown, but the impact is anything but small. •
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