Take Care is intended to spark discussion and spur action to solve our child care crisis. Through the voices and stories of North Carolinian families, child care teachers, businesses, and community leaders, Take Care provides a firsthand account of how this crisis is impacting all of us, how communities are trying to address the crisis, and what is at stake if we don’t create lasting solutions. While child care is foundational to our state and country’s wellbeing, it is built on a flawed and unsustainable funding model. Parents cannot afford to pay more. Providers and teachers can’t earn enough to make a living. Government and private investment are woefully inadequate. As a result, teachers cannot afford to stay in the profession and are leaving for jobs at convenience stores and gas stations that pay more, child care classrooms struggle to stay open, and employers are losing workers. This hurts everyone—children, families, child care teachers and providers, businesses, and our economy. The end of emergency funding to help stabilize child care has further worsened the crisis. Our nation relies on quality child care to support children’s healthy development and learning, allow parents to work, and keep businesses running. Yet, child care is in crisis—one that has been decades in the making and was exacerbated by the pandemic.??