[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 85 (Monday, May 17, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING JACQUE HOWELL AS IOWAN OF THE WEEK

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CYNTHIA AXNE

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 17, 2021

  Mrs. AXNE. Madam Speaker, in honor of Child Care Provider 
Appreciation Day, I would like to recognize Jacque Howell, director of 
Red Oak Child Development Center. Jacque has led the way in expanding 
childcare options in her rural community of Red Oak, Iowa.
  Childcare is an especially scarce resource in Iowa. In 2018, 41 
percent of our cities had children but no known childcare and 48 
percent have some childcare but fewer slots than there are children. As 
you might imagine, this has a significant impact on our workforce and 
economy as many families struggle to balance parenthood and employment. 
In Montgomery County where Jacque and her family live, there were 1,183 
children under the age of 9 but only 435 available spaces in existing 
licensed childcare facilities.
  In 2019, Jacque attended a meeting with the Iowa Women's Foundation 
and was faced with many of these same statistics and was blown away by 
the lack of available quality care in Iowa. That's when she sprang into 
action and gathered others to start the Red Oak Child Development 
Center. Jacque was hired as director of the center in January 2020 and 
raised an impressive $1.2 million in funds to bring this dream to 
reality.
  Red Oak Child Development Center is a special organization as they 
partner with their local school district to make the care more 
accessible. They have also opted to offer infant care, a service that 
isn't provided by other care facilities in their community. The center 
is currently working on expanding its location to house two additional 
infant care rooms. Currently, they have 100 children enrolled in their 
care and they see an average of 70 to 75 of those children daily. They 
were baffled by how quickly they were able to fill their spots and 
continue to receive enrollment applications daily. Red Oak Child 
Development Center aims to provide quality, affordable childcare to 
their community. They accept childcare assistance with just over a 
quarter of their children receiving that support. It's clear that they 
are filling a significant need as some families drive up to 30 minutes 
one-way just to take their children to care.
  Jacque says that educating the next generation of lowan's is 
something that has been a lifelong passion of hers. She understands 
that children are truly our future and she endeavors to provide 
children with support, love, and encouragement. As the director of the 
Red Oak Child Development Center, she's been able to help build an 
organization that believes in quality over quantity, supports the 
social, emotional, and cognitive development of all children. Jacque 
also recognizes the importance of her amazing staff members and their 
ever-supportive community as they work together to continue to build 
what is already an incredible child development center.
  Jacque's dedication to the children in her community is not only 
vital to the development of the children but also empowers families to 
reengage in their local economy as they are able to get back to work 
and rest easy knowing their kids are in good care. Because of that, it 
is my honor to recognize Jacque Howell as our Iowan of the Week.

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