Speech by LIIF's Angie Garling at Ribbon Cutting for Richmond Parkway YMCA Early Learning Center 

The LIIF Early Care and Education (ECE) team headed to the Richmond Parkway YMCA Early Learning Center, joining Mayor Eduardo Martinez and child care leaders to celebrate a community win in Richmond, California. The YMCA leveraged a $1.5 million grant — facilitated by LIIF via the California Department of Social Services’ Infrastructure Grant Program (IGP) — to create a high-quality center with 64 spaces in four classrooms. The facility will provide infant, toddler and preschool services for low-income families in this historically excluded community. The grant went toward items running the gamut from demolition and electrical to solar purchase/installation and a new playground.

“I am excited to join you all today to see things come full circle. In the 1990s, I was a member of the YMCA of the East Bay and was honored to serve on Fran Gallati’s Board. I’ve seen the YMCA centering community voice as they have scaled their early childhood impact over the decades. Knowing that the “baseline” was showing too few child care spaces in Richmond, the YMCA recognized that the “ball was in their court” as they transformed racquetball courts into the amazing facility you see today. They definitely “aced” this one. 
 
“Child care work is personal for me. My two girls went to preschool in a church basement – just like I did a generation before. But having accessible, affordable child care is not yet a given in the U.S. That is where LIIF is making a difference. We are the leading national community development financial institution – or CDFI, for short – working in the early care and education sector. To date, LIIF has invested over half a billion dollars and positively impacted 400,000 children’s spaces. Our child care efforts started 25 years ago just across the Bay in San Francisco. We now work in places as varied as New York City and Houston to Georgia and Oregon, tailoring out strategies to meet each community’s unique needs. In the “Golden State,” LIIF is honored to be the facility funds manager for the California Department of Social Services’ $350.5 million Infrastructure Grant Program, which has a goal of bettering around 10,000 centers and family child care homes. This is the largest effort a state has ever put toward strengthening its child care ecosystem’s infrastructure.  

“The YMCA’s success story is just one of 4,000+ so far across every corner of the state, with communities both urban, suburban and rural now on a positive pathway to meeting their residents’ child care needs. Children, families and the economy, both local and national, all benefit when we offer accessible, quality facilities. This aligns with LIIF’s mission that “everyone in the United States should benefit from living in a community of opportunity, equity and well-being.” Today, via their determination and $1.5 million in funding via the Infrastructure Grant Program, the Richmond Parkway YMCA Early Learning Center has offered opportunity, equity and well-being to the Richmond community.”