A key to staying in child care

First Home, First Teacher launches in Battle Creek, offering rent-free housing for early childhood educators

By Nick J. Buckley / For Black Squirrel News

BATTLE CREEK — Soon after volunteers put the finishing touches on a duplex on Battle Creek’s north side, Haylee Fettes and her two sons stepped inside.

The boys made a beeline for their bedroom. Within moments, one of the twin beds had become a launching pad as they took turns dunking a ball into a basketball hoop mounted to the door.

Fettes moved more slowly.

She peeked inside kitchen cabinets, opened the refrigerator, walked through the living room and stepped into her bedroom.

Around her were the finishing touches volunteers had spent the morning arranging: stocked shelves, made beds, framed decorations and a sign above the dining table that read “Home.”

For Fettes, the home represented something larger than a place to live.

“It means not having to figure out what’s next,” Fettes said. “I don’t have to think about how much I am going to get paid on Friday. … Just being able to breathe, live, work, and not think about the money, because it’s never been about that. I can focus on what I actually want to do, which is teach.”

On June 8, after volunteers spent the morning furnishing and preparing the duplex, Fettes and another early childhood educator became the first Battle Creek participants in First Home, First Teacher, an initiative that provides rent-free housing to help early childhood educators build pathways to homeownership while addressing workforce challenges that have long plagued the child care industry.

Inspired by a model developed in Connecticut and adapted through a partnership of local organizations, the Battle Creek pilot connects educators with housing and support services intended to strengthen long-term stability for both families and the early learning workforce.

Organizers say the two-home pilot is intended as the beginning of a broader effort to use housing stability as a tool for recruiting and retaining early childhood educators in a low-wage field where stable housing can be difficult to afford.

A housing benefit for educators

First Home, First Teacher is not Battle Creek’s first attempt to connect housing support with educator retention.

Through an earlier housing assistance program funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Community Action Agency of South Central Michigan helped 61 early childhood educators with rental and homeowner support.

The assistance helped, but it also revealed how many educators remained one unexpected expense away from financial hardship.

“At the end of the year they’re like, ‘Is there any more help? I’m still struggling,’” recalled Lisa Farrell, director of the Early Childhood Education Collective at Community Action.

Related: Battle Creek puts child care workers in the spotlight

Housing had emerged elsewhere as a workforce strategy. The City of Battle Creek also administers a W.K. Kellogg Foundation-funded housing incentive program for Battle Creek Public Schools teachers and administrators.

According to Pulse at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, child care providers in Battle Creek earn an average annual wage of about $28,870.

For local leaders, the question was no longer whether housing mattered. It was what to do about it.

In 2024, Farrell joined a group of community partners on a trip to New Haven, Connecticut with Pulse co-executive directors Kathy Szenda Wilson and Maria Ortiz Borden and representatives from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to learn from Friends Center for Children’s First Home, First Teacher initiative.

“We dreamt of bringing something like this home to Battle Creek,” she said.

The model offered a different way of thinking about compensation.

“How do we raise our beloved educator salaries without adequate government investment, without raising tuition on our hardworking families, and without raising an untenable hundreds of thousands annually in fundraising?” Caroline T. Smith of Friends Center for Children said.

“Our answer became First Home, First Teacher.”

In Battle Creek, local organizations spent the next 20 months adapting the concept to local circumstances.

Neighborhoods Inc. identified and prepared the duplex and will serve as landlord for the two-unit property. Community Action developed the educator support framework and will provide wraparound services, while Pulse helped convene partners and guide the effort from concept to launch. The Battle Creek Community Foundation, United Way of South Central Michigan, LISC and other funders and community partners also helped bring the pilot to life.

“If we’re serious about strengthening childcare, we have to address the realities facing the workforce behind it,” said Szenda Wilson. “One of the greatest pressures on any household budget is housing.”

Applicants were evaluated using a community-developed rubric that considered housing need, household income and commitment to the profession. Organizers said many applicants fell within the ALICE population — Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — households that earn above the federal poverty level but still struggle to afford basic necessities.

The Battle Creek Community Foundation committed $150,000 over 10 years to support the initiative.

The result is a two-home pilot that organizers hope becomes something much larger.

“This is not the last home we’re going to do,” said Maria Ortiz Borden, co-executive director of Pulse. “This is the start. We are going to have many of these, and we’re going to continue to do this until we’re able to support this sector in the way that they deserve.”

The work she loves

Fettes said First Home, First Teacher gives her more room to focus on the work she already loves.

At Stars & Stripes Learning Station, Fettes is an educator in the Great Start Readiness Program, where she has worked with some children since they were infants.

“I teach because it’s genuinely fun,” Fettes said. “Some of my kids, I’ve been with since they were babies… I take them to graduation, and I send them off to school. And then I see them out at public events and community events.

“They know me forever. I’m Miss Haylee.”

How we reported this: Black Squirrel News attended the June 8 volunteer staging, dedication ceremony and family welcome for First Home, First Teacher. Reporting included in-person interviews at the home and background research through the City of Battle Creek, Pulse at the W.E. Upjohn Institute, Community Action Agency of South Central Michigan and Friends Center for Children.

Disclosure: Nick J. Buckley produced separate freelance content about First Home, First Teacher for the Battle Creek Community Foundation. Black Squirrel News independently determined its coverage of this initiative.