Investing in Children and the Future of Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, there are 19,000 low-income families with children eligible for daycare vouchers. The State is able to provide 11,000 of these families with vouchers, leaving about 8,000 families with the challenge of finding affordable high-quality, safe daycare.

The Salvation Army Children’s Scholarship Fund will provide the financial resources needed to enable families to afford high quality, safe daycare and aftercare.  The goal of the Scholarship Fund is to raise $200,000 annually in charitable contributions for families who qualify for vouchers from the State but do not receive either a voucher or an open contract spot at one of the Salvation Army programs in the greater Boston area.

Each week day of the school year, 295 children attend one of The Salvation Army pre-school and afterschool programs in the greater Boston area.

The Salvation Army is dedicated to the care of children through nurture, enrichment, education and support, and we believe that investing time, resources and attention in these children will mean a brighter future for them, their families and the Commonwealth.

The families who rely on these Salvation Army daycare and afterschool programs are living at or below the poverty level or are homeless, single-parent households. These are hard-working families trying to do the best for their children. Affording high quality daycare would not be feasible for these families without some form of financial assistance.

At the Salvation Army facilities described above, annually, about 135-150 children whose families do not have a voucher or contract slot, receive a subsidized rate to attend the program. The families provide some level of payment toward this rate based on a sliding fee scale.  In accordance with our contractual agreement with the Commonwealth, The Salvation Army must provide the balance of the cost for these families daily rate through private charitable contributions.

To find out more about the scholarship fund, please download the attached pdf brochure.  Adherence to state regulations require that all gifts to the scholarship fund require a wet signature from the donor on the reply device provided.