Minnesota has struggled for many years with a lack of available child-care, also referred to as âchild-care deserts.â The COVID-19 pandemic has created an ever greater need as the Star Tribune recently reported Minnesota has lost approximately 4,000 licensed family child care providers. Christine Mutchler, Itasca Community Collegeâs Early Childhood Education instructor wanted to find a way to help after she heard the concerns from the community and saw recent research regarding this gap. âThe one thing holding rural Minnesota back from taking a serious leap forward economically is the lack of workers, and there are three things getting in the way of fixing that: a lack of child care, a lack of affordable housing, and a lack of transportation,â according to Marnie Werner, Vice President of Research from the Center for Rural Policy and Development. âThe biggest of these is child care.âÂ