WAGONER, Okla. — Parents in Oklahoma who rely on Head Start programs are beginning to feel the impact of the ongoing government shutdown.
Last week, Community Action Resource and Development (CARD) sent a letter to families saying their Head Start programs would have to close due to the ongoing government shutdown and a lack of funding.
For parents like Storm Koch, the closure is more than an inconvenience — it’s a major setback for both her and her three-year-old son Aries.
“They’ve been my lifeline, they’ve been my best friend, they’ve been my confidante,” Koch said. “I’ve made relationships with these people outside of Head Start that I will carry on for the rest of my life.”
The Head Start program in Wagoner has served as a vital support system for Koch’s family. She said her son has thrived since joining the program.
“He has a whole vocabulary, he has friends, he can’t wait to go see his teachers every day,” Koch said.
The program also doubles as childcare, allowing Koch to attend school full-time, but with the shutdown halting federal funding, that resource is now on hold.
“This means I have to stop school,” she said. “That means I have to worry about the fulfillment that my son was getting every day from Heard Start.”
Parents received a letter from CARD saying that if the shutdown didn’t end by October 31, they would have to close their doors due to lack of funding.
For Koch, that also means worrying about childcare on top of food assistance as her SNAP benefits were also impacted.
“So now that I’m possibly going to have to stop going to school, building my life up, trying to make a life for my son and myself at the same time — it’s like everybody wants to say, ‘Get a job, just do this, don’t rely on that,’ and it’s like I’m trying to get there with all of the resources that I have,” Koch said.
She hasn’t been able to look for other resources during this time and is holding onto hope that things will return to normal soon.
“We’re suffering,” she said. “Regardless of what your views on politics are, break it all the way down — we’re suffering because we can’t come together, and we just want it to come back together and be back to what we were.”
While C.A.R.D. waits for the government to reopen, the organization has provided a community resource guide to help both staff and families. You can find that guide here.full-time
The National Head Start Association is also encouraging families to contact their elected officials through its “Take Action” campaign. Click here to learn more.
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