Build it! Campaign for KIDCARESHARE
Instantly schedule and trade childcare with trusted friends, family, and neighbors using kidcareshare.
Hi! My name is Jen Ortado. I'm building a solution to help parents connect with their communities and gain some much-needed balance.
As a working parent, it's a daily struggle to find the ideal balance between job responsibilities, home life, family needs, time with friends, and squeezing out a drop of time for ourselves.
Trying to balance it all, what parent hasn't been overwhelmed by...
- the outrageous cost of hiring a sitter, or
- the task of finding a trusted person for the job, or
- basic household scheduling hassles, coordinating details for carpools, play dates, or a night without kids amidst Facebook clutter, back and forth emails, and texts
- or just the burden we feel asking our go-to "tribe" for a hand?
Childcare co-ops are an option for some, but my attempt to build and manage one didn't offer me the flexibility or the connectivity I desired. It was too much to manage while managing everything else. I searched high and low for a solution, but nothing existed that seemed to fill my needs... so I set out to build it.
My goal is to help parents overcome these common challenges with a simple solution in the form of an app. It's called kidcareshare.
(Visit www.kidcareshare.com to signup!)
kidcareshare is a parent-driven messaging and scheduling app that helps parents to build and manage connections with other trusted parent peers in their communities. The app helps parents instantly schedule and trade childcare, play dates, and carpools by facilitating private user "care-share" groups and keeping it all equitable through a points-based system. 
Please consider supporting this campaign to deliver the beta phase of the kidcareshare app to parents like you!
With the kidcareshare app, parents will...
- save on average, over $3000 in sitter costs a year!
- connect with other trusted parents and build new connections based on shared activities and interests
- trade points in an equitable exchange for care given and received
- instantly schedule carpools, play dates and parent help with a few clicks (no more back and forth emails and text messages, or cluttered Facebook groups)
- earn valuable credits for giving care that can be redeemed for special offers and savings at local merchants
- begin saving money, gain valuable time, build stronger connections and ultimately find the balance for better self-care to be an even better parent
Read more about the vision and how kidcareshare works HERE. 
Where we are now
kidcareshare is in development! More than 50 parents have tested our prototype, and we've simulated features and concepts within private networks using Facebook, focus groups, and other platforms.
The experience kidcareshare offers is unique and it continues to receive tremendous feedback and demonstrated need from parents who all want to start using it, but we need to get it there.
Our local startup community has been an incredible support along the way. At this critical stage of development, our runway is encroaching on us. We need funds and word of mouth to get us to the next stage of development to bring the app to market!
The "Ask"
With a contribution of less than the average cost of a sitter for a night out, I hope the collective support from friends, family, local businesses, community organizations, and parents nationwide will get us to where we need to be to bring the first version of the product to you!
With your support, we will be able to:
- finish coding to launch a beta version of the product for you to start using
- continue to generate user sign-ups while we seek additional funding to take this product to a broader market with added features, benefits and services
At the very least, please consider signing up at kidcareshare.com to receive pre-launch offers and updates. Invite parent friends who may need an app like kidcareshare to sign up too! It's a way of saying "YES! I need kidcareshare!" and for that, I'd be most grateful.
In closing
I truly hope you will support my goal and help make kidcareshare available to parents across the globe.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Jen Ortado
Parent & Founder
kidcareshare
*Thank you for reading all the way to the end and please...don't forget to sign-up on our website or HERE.
