South King County suffers from a lack of childcare slots, services for infant care, and inadequate funding to provide subsidized childcare. At the same time, the census data identifies South King County as having the County’s largest population of children in childcare ages. Statistics show that the City of SeaTac has one licensed childcare slot for every two children in need of childcare. There are a projected 15,000 children in South King County of childcare age who lack access to care. This problem is magnified during evenings and weekends.

"Since 1994 there has been an increase in the percentage of calls to Child Care Resources for evening and weekend care, particularly from low-income parents living in South King County and Seattle. Unfortunately, childcare during non-standard hours is very scarce. Some parts of King County have no licensed facilities offering weekend or evening care."

United Way of King County
Community Assessment for 2002-2004

The thousands of workers in the service industries that support the airport are among the lowest wage earners in King and north Pierce counties. While the majority of these workers travel from a thirty-mile radius to work, they struggle to find and afford childcare that meets their non-standard work schedule.

The childcare center will offer care during extended hours to serve the needs of many parents who work in the SeaTac area. The new facility will provide care for up to 16 infants and 58 toddlers and preschoolers at one time. The center will provide after school and evening activities and care for school age children. It is planned that the center will operate for 16 hours daily during the week and will operate a weekend schedule.

Offering 74 childcare placements seems like a mere drop in the bucket toward the enormous need. Every childcare slot will be reused during extended day hours. Therefore the impact will be much greater than 74 children over a seven-day period. Each family served will benefit greatly from knowing their child is well cared for in a safe and loving environment. To quote Mother Teresa, “I picked up one person---maybe if I had not picked up that one person I wouldn’t have picked up 42,000. Same thing for you, same thing for your family… just begin… one, one, one.”