Carmen Doucette, a mother of two daughters living in Bowmanville, Ont., struggled to find reliable and flexible child care when she returned to work full-time after having her first child in 2019. This experience inspired her to create the ‘Her Yes Club’ platform, which aims to connect working parents with home-based child-care providers in their local communities. The platform will include daycare services, babysitters, nannies, and local moms who can assist with school drop-offs and pickups. Doucette’s vision is to help working parents navigate the challenge of finding safe, reputable care for their children, especially in a licensed centre.
The ‘Her Yes Club’ platform focuses on home-based care and excludes licensed daycare centers. To ensure the safety of the services provided, all potential service providers must undergo a screening process that includes safety verifications and other requirements. This screening process ensures that parents can trust the caregivers they hire through the app. Doucette believes that by offering this platform, she can address the growing need for flexible and reliable child care services in communities like Bowmanville and beyond.
Parents across Ontario are facing significant challenges in securing child care, with many experiencing long waitlists for licensed daycare spaces. The demand for child care has increased, particularly after the province signed on to the national $10-a-day program, resulting in licensed spaces filling up quickly. Home-based care providers make up a significant portion of the child-care market in Canada, but many parents struggle to find these services. Doucette’s app seeks to bridge this gap by connecting parents with local providers who meet their specific needs for child care.
One of the main obstacles parents face when searching for home-based child care is knowing where to find it. Many parents currently rely on Facebook groups to search for providers, leading to a stressful and time-consuming process. Doucette’s app aims to simplify this process by instantly matching parents with local providers based on their location and specific needs. This feature eliminates the need to join waitlists and streamlines the process of finding suitable child care options. The app also provides exposure for home-based providers who may struggle to fill vacancies or find additional income opportunities.
The ‘Her Yes Club’ platform is set to launch in July 2024 in Bowmanville, with plans to expand throughout the Durham Region in the future. Doucette hopes that the platform will eventually benefit families across Canada, especially those living in rural communities with limited access to licensed daycare centers. By providing a convenient and efficient way for parents to connect with home-based child-care providers, Doucette aims to make a positive impact on working families who require flexible care options. Interested individuals can visit the heryesclub.ca website and join the email list for updates on the platform’s launch and expansion.
