We saw the disconnect.
From the Greater Seattle Area, watching the same scramble play out family after family, year after year.
"Have you tried the place on 132nd? I think they had an opening last month."
That was the conversation. Over and over. At pickup. At the park. In group chats at 11pm. An underground network of parents keeping each other afloat because no one else was going to.
We watched it happen from the outside. Neighbors and coworkers spending six weeks of leave on the phone with daycares, finally enrolling somewhere that didn't quite fit, just because it was the only spot open.
There are good daycares across the Greater Seattle Area with openings right now. Family-run homes in Tukwila, Burien, Renton, run by women who've been doing this work for twenty years. They don't show up on Google. They fill spots by word of mouth.
So we decided to be the bridge. For everyone. Not just the families lucky enough to be in the right group chat.
Why this is so hard.
Our region is one of the toughest places in the country to find childcare. Not because providers don't exist — because the way families and providers find each other is broken.
Of demand is met
Washington has licensed capacity for roughly half the kids under five who need it.
Are invisible online
The best home daycares don't have a website and don't show up when you Google.
To navigate WCCC
Working Connections covers a huge chunk of costs, but figuring out who accepts vouchers takes weeks of calls.
A few things we feel strongly about.
Families shouldn't pay for help finding childcare.
You're already paying enough. Daycares pay our placement fee. You don't. Ever.
Small home daycares belong here too.
Some of the best care in the Greater Seattle Area happens in someone's living room. They belong in our network as much as any center.
A match isn't a win until month six.
We stay with you through year one. If something's off, we hear about it early and we help fix it.
Your information stays yours.
We share what you tell us only with daycares you agree to meet. No data sales. No marketing emails.
What it looks like when you reach out.
Intake
Five minutes. Your kid, your schedule, your neighborhood, your budget.
A real call
Usually within a day. We ask the things the form didn't, and listen between the lines.
We go look
We pull options from our network. If a fresh visit is needed, we make it before sending the list.
Short list
Two or three places we believe could work, with notes on why each one.
Tours
We text the provider, you set up a visit. We prep you on what to look for.
Check-in
What clicked, what didn't? If none feel right, we go back to the network.
Enrollment
We update our records and bill the daycare. You never see an invoice from us.
Year one
Day 7. Day 30. Month 3. Month 6. Month 12. If something's off, we hear it first.
The whole Greater Seattle Area.
Renton, Tukwila, Burien, White Center, Kent, Federal Way, Rainier Valley, Seattle, Bellevue, Shoreline, and everywhere between.
Family home daycares, centers, Montessori, play-based, bilingual, faith-based, nature-based. If it's licensed and good, it can be in our network.
Anyone who needs childcare. WCCC families and private-pay families. Single parents, two-parent households, grandparents raising grandkids. All of it.