ADVOCAP's Childcare Incubator Program will expand access to safe and affordable child care while empowering low-income individuals to launch and operate their own licensed childcare businesses. - ADVOCAP Inc. will use $704,000 in CED funds to construct a childcare incubator facility at a formerly vacant site in Oshkosh, Wisconsin to provide accessible childcare to residents in surrounding Fond du Lac, Green Lake, and Winnebago counties. Oshkosh has a poverty rate of 18.8%, significantly higher than the statewide rate of 10.6% and faces a shortage of accessible childcare. This childcare incubator facility addresses both needs by creating new, full-time jobs for entrepreneurs with low incomes, who will launch and operate licensed childcare businesses both within the incubator facility and from their residences. ADVOCAP will use CED funds for construction costs to develop the facility, that will house four fully independent childcare units, which will result in 16 new childcare businesses. Each of the four units will include their own private entrance, bathroom, small kitchen, living room, dining area, classroom space, sleeping areas, and outdoor play areas. Each unit will accommodate multiple business owners creating at least 112 new childcare slots, including at least 56 available during nontraditional hours, increasing access to childcare for working families. The incubator will provide employment opportunities in the childcare industry and offer resources to support employee development, such as training in early education, licensing, bookkeeping, and small business management. Employees hired at the incubator will also receive benefits and access to wraparound support services such as financial literacy, transportation assistance, and technical assistance in business operations through ADVOCAP programs and partnerships with social service agencies. This project will create 22 new jobs, 17 of which will be filled by individuals with low income.
