LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Valley parents struggling to pay for childcare or summer programs may be able to get their hands on money, all for free.
We'll show you how a local nonprofit is helping to hand out cash for locals who need it most.
Nursery school teacher Marisela Arechavaleta said raising three kids is very expensive these days.
She and her husband both work but paying for childcare takes a big chunk of the family budget.
"It's still my income is just pretty much childcare and groceries and that's it. So being able to get onto the grants that they have available, that was a big help because that saves us a lot of money," she said.
She's relieve she received grants for two of her kids to help ease the financial burden of summer camp.
"I got two grants of $500 each. So that covered all of summer camp for both my daughters, for my four-year-old and my two-year-old. So they're able to come to summer camp, and I have them in a safe location," she said.
Impact Las Vegas Foundation is the organization behind this grant money. It empowers women to give collectively to philanthropic causes in our community.
"Every woman gives $1,000 every year, and then nonprofits apply in order to gain those funds in the form of a grant," said Sonia Petkewich, board member with Impact Las Vegas Foundation.
Two years ago, Family Promise of Las Vegas, a social services organization, received $95,000 from Impact Las Vegas.
"We have served 31 families, 55 kids in this first year of the grant," said Bridget Young, Family Promise's community engagement director.
And Family Promise wants families to know there's still free money available, about $60,000, for things like childcare and summer programs.
That's enough to help 60 more valley families.
"We hope that, you know, as long as we have the funds, we can keep administering it and giving it out to the families with pay directly to the child care facility," Young said.
Schools like Sunset Montessori Community are on the receiving end of this grant money.
Victoria Martinez has owned the school for the last 13 years. She said she hears stories of our community's hardships all the time.
"Their kids are in a safe environment and they're able to keep their jobs because a lot of the times it's like, what do I do? You know, how do I balance this?" she said.
Eight families at Sunset Montessori Community have received the grant money.
"So they were able to get their kids into summer school, not worry about what what are they going to do economically because that grant covered their summer school," Martinez said. "So that was really amazing for the parents."
There are some requirements to get the grant money, but if you're interested, you can call Family Promise at 702-638-8806.
Family Promise also recommends applying for long-term subsidized child care through The Urban League.
