My name is Davis and I clean windows for free in exchange for one thing — letting me tell the story of hardworking Kansas City business owners.

When I met Miss Jackie Thomas, I didn’t expect to hear one of the most powerful stories I’ve ever encountered.

Miss Jackie has been running a licensed daycare in Kansas City for 16 years. She has two locations, is opening a third, runs a thrift store so families can afford clothes and diapers, and is planning a food pantry to feed families in need.

But none of that is what makes her story remarkable.

Years ago, Miss Jackie’s grandson Damian was placed with an abusive man while she fought for custody. He was beaten repeatedly while his family thought he was safely in daycare. The abuse escalated until Damian was found unresponsive. He was revived but ended up in the ICU, brain dead.

When Miss Jackie arrived at the hospital they told her she might not be able to see him. She went anyway. Before the nurses knew it, Damian had ripped out his IV, came hollering around the corner, and jumped into her arms. It was the first time he had responded to anyone.

That moment is why she does what she does.

Miss Jackie has never turned a child away. When a mother living in a hotel told her she had five kids and nowhere to take them, Miss Jackie said: “I’ll watch them for free.”

Right now the government owes Miss Jackie $8,000 in unpaid childcare subsidies. State funding has been cut. The subsidy system pays providers after care is already delivered — sometimes months late — and when those payments don’t come, providers like Miss Jackie have to choose between paying their workers or keeping their doors open.

She keeps her doors open.

Daycares across Kansas City are closing because they can’t survive this broken system. The families who need affordable childcare the most are being left with nothing. Miss Jackie refuses to be one of those closures.

Every dollar raised goes directly to Miss Jackie Thomas to help her:

∙ Cover unpaid subsidy gaps

∙ Pay her workers

∙ Keep her doors open for the families who need her most

∙ Support her third location opening

Miss Jackie said it best herself: “I don’t even know where I’m gonna get the money sometimes… it just automatically shows up.”

Let’s be the reason it shows up this time.

— Davis | Window Wolf KC