In San Diego, the average family with two young children spends around 40% of their income on child care. Despite parents’ huge investments, child care workers made about $33,000 a year in 2021, on average. The price families pay for full-time care at a licensed center only covers a little over half of the estimated true cost of high-quality care.
That’s where the Children First Collective comes in — it’s a bold coalition of nonprofits, child care providers and parents united in finding solutions to make raising a child in San Diego possible for everyone. In 2023, we teamed up with the CFC to create a video that featured their successes to date and the challenges ahead for an event dubbed "We Choose Care."
And they'd spent the past few years gathering all sorts of amazing building blocks from local artists, photographers and their own fellows, who'd built out a robust brand book and a sturdy, but appropriately-bubbly, aesthetic.
With the momentum from the We Choose Care event and the editorial coverage that followed, we entered the next phase of our partnership: rebuilding the CFC website.
The movement had already gathered incredible assets - photography, video, and a brand book - giving us a strong foundation. We wove these pieces together to craft a website that celebrates CFC’s successes while positioning the organization for the future.
Within this digital reboot, we also relaunched and now manage CFC’s newsletter, keeping their supporters engaged with updates, stories, and resources.
Over on Instagram, our storyteller Megan manages Stories of Care, a short video series sharing quotes from parents and providers across the region. These reels bring heart, humor, and honesty to the realities of care work.
“Parents can’t afford to pay. Providers can’t afford to stay.”
Follow @childrenfirstsd to see more, and sign up for the Children First Collective newsletter for updates.
Our storytelling has extended beyond essays and events. We’ve worked with CFC to generate press coverage that frames child care as a critical economic and social issue:
ABC 10: San Diego families struggle as childcare & rent consume nearly half of household incomes
Fox 5: As inflation rises, parents can expect higher costs for child care this summer
We’ve also delivered reporting and analytics to the CFC team, providing insights on audience engagement, reach, and impact — creating a full-circle approach to measure and amplify their work.
We know how critical first-hand, lived experience is in telling a story. And we're not shy about sharing our own narratives. So we pitched an essay to The San Diego Union-Tribune Opinion team that grew into a whole package of voices, ranging from advocates to childcare workers and providers.
The trio of essays landed in The U-T's Sunday Opinion section, the premium space for community perspectives.
Opinion: San Diego’s children and their parents need the community’s help
Opinion: We need to start caring for the people who care for our kids
Opinion: There’s a crisis in San Diego when it comes to children. Here’s how the YMCA is helping.
