The program is called WeeCare, which will employ two care coordinators who will help Army Reserve members within 100 mile distance of West Liberty.
The agreement signed by the U.S. Army, WeeCare and West Liberty City Manager Lee Geertz (pictured center) at the Pentagon the third week of August
“It launched two days ago (Aug. 22) and we already have 34 service members connected with us,” said Jessa Santangelo, WeeCare’s Vice President of Business Development and Community Impact.
Service members go to the landing page of the app, register and then are matched with a care coordinator, she said. The care coordinators will help them find daycare facilities where the service members are drilling, in battle assembly or on emergency deployment.
“Childcare has been a great need all across the country – more specifically the Army,” Santangelo said. “The U.S. Army identified two regions to launch this program. One was the Quad Cities and Kansas City.”
West Liberty was chosen as a selected because its within 100 miles of the Quad Cities, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. The conversation began with city officials last November. Several meetings were held and then West Liberty was selected.
West Liberty City Councilmember Dana Dominguez helped get the conversation going between WeeCare and the federal government to partner with the city.
“After much discussion with WeeCare, we were confident that it would be too good of an opportunity to pass up,” Dominguez said. “WeeCare takes care of all of the administrative management of the program, leaving very little additional work to be done by city staff, and West Liberty, because of its central location to the Quad Cities, Muscatine, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids areas, was the perfect location to be able to serve the most reserve and guard members in Iowa.”
Dominguez traveled to Washington D.C. for the signing ceremony at the Pentagon the third week of August.
“It was an absolute honor to be able to visit the Pentagon and meet so many people who are working on this initiative behind the scenes,” Dominguez said. “Special Guests in attendance {at the signing ceremony} were West Liberty City Manager Lee Geertz, Mayor Ethan Anderson, WeLead Economic Director Ken Brooks and myself. As well as Clay County (Missouri) Commissioner Jerry Nolte (who represents the other partner who will also bring the program to the Kansas City area), about half a dozen mid-west regional Army Reserve Ambassadors, and several WeeCare representatives including CEO Jessica Chang.”
Dominguez met Lieutenant General Jody J. Daniels who is the Chief of the Army Reserve and the Ninth Commanding General of the Army.
“We had a very engaging discussion while we sat together at the lunch banquet alongside Assistant Chief of Army Reserve Stephen D. Austin,” Dominguez said. “Daniels is doing an excellent job in her leadership role and is on the right path to change the way that the military supports our soldiers. She mentioned many times that if the spouses and children are supported, our military members are more likely to stay in the service and her mission is to increase that support (which is way overdue in my opinion). It was inspiring to me to not only see one of the most high-ranking people in the military make time to care and invest in a program like this, but to also be able to meet a female general who I read is only one of about 70 female generals of the 1,000 or so generals in the U.S. military. That to me is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I’ll never forget.”
Dominguez encourages US Army Reserve members to register right away for the program. The first weekend WeeCare can provide childcare for service members who are drilling in the 100-mile radius is September.
For more information about WeeCare can direct questions via email to [email protected] or call (816) 670-3286 as well as visit the program website (https://weecare.co/benefits/military). WeeCare ENCOURAGES families to register right away by downloading the app so they can connect with the Care Manager 24/7 in the app and get any questions answered.
