FORT WORTH, Texas _ Students at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth are volunteering to provide free babysitting for the children of health care workers in need.
Essential workers, such as nurses, respiratory therapists, dentists, almost anyone in a health care profession who cannot work remotely, have reported some troubles maintaining child-care arrangements in recent weeks because so many schools and daycare facilities have either closed or have reached capacity due to social distancing requirements.
In addition, child care can be expensive, the volunteers said.
Workers in nonhospital settings, such as health care employees working at assisted living centers and jails, should also apply so their eligibility can be determined, volunteers said.
The student volunteers of DFW COVIDsitters are trying to be helpful and the need is extensive, said Abhi Ganesh, one of the group's founders. Ganesh's sister and brother-in-law are both working as health care professionals in Houston and her nephew is living with Ganesh's parents, his grandparents, Ganesh said.
Not everyone is so fortunate to have that as an option, Ganesh said.
"There are people living in the garage and not able to come home because they have children and they are working around the coronavirus," Ganesh said. "Some cannot pay $12 to $15 an hour for child care."
The effort is not nationwide but it could be soon, as several student led groups are opening in various locations, Ganesh said.
About three or four students work with a single household because many health care professionals work 12-hour shifts, and also the student volunteers still have educational responsibilities, Ganesh said. The service was launched about two weeks ago, Ganesh said.
"The health care organizations and providers we have contacted have been very supportive," Ganesh said. "They have been posting on their organization's social media, reposting on their own social media and really trying to help us get the word out. It's been extremely encouraging for us to keep building this platform and making this process more streamlined for families and those in the community."
In mid-March when Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine third-year student Lexy Kindt was working at Cook Children's Medical Center and COVID-19 was rapidly spreading, shutting down schools and daycares, Kindt posted about her concerns on a student social media page.
Kindt heard about the struggles health care professionals were facing without having childcare options, making an already taxing situation even more difficult. After a quick post to Facebook, Kindt teamed up with fellow TCOM third-year students Nivedha Sukumar, 24, and Ganesh, 24, to round up students for this volunteer effort.
"I feel like a lot of our fellow students are excited about an opportunity to help out in any way they can," Sukumar said. "Many of our peers even personally reached out and offered to help us in any other ways we needed."
A Minnesota group providing a similar service provided a roadmap to help the DFW students get started, Sukumar said.
"A lot of the people who are on the front lines in health care are going through a lot of strain, both emotionally and mentally, but I also think that are lot of them are going through financial strain as well, getting pay cuts and things like that," Sukumar said.
"I think that was one of the things that we definitely kept under consideration. Another thing is that as medical students, we kind of feel like it's our responsibility to step up. I think a lot of us are frustrated that we can't help out on rotations. This is kind of our way to help out in our communities and give back if we can."
Although they are not trained child-care workers, they are students aspiring to be hired as health care professionals in the near future and are certified in CPR and basic life support.
The team launched a website the first week of April and has about 10 to 15 students who have expressed an interest in lending a helping hand.
