Causes: Child Day Care, Children & Youth, Family Services, Human Services

Mission: We connect parents with child care professionals, provide workshops and education, and advocate for child care. Our mission: partnering with families and child development professionals to raise happy, confident children.

Target demographics: We help parents, child care providers, and young children ages 0-5.

Direct beneficiaries per year: Over 4,000 parents, children, and providers.

Geographic areas served: Northern Alameda County cities: Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville, Alameda, and Piedmont

Programs: BANANAS operates two major services: child care resource and referral and child care payment programs. BANANAS resource and referral staff provide parents with the information and counseling they need so that they can make the most appropriate child care choices for children. BANANAS provides a variety of other parent support services and gives technical assistance to child care programs. BANANAS offers workshops, publications, support groups and classes to both parents and providers and provides over 90,000 referrals and other services each year. BANANAS operates over 10 child care payment programs funded with federal, state and local funds. These programs pay for the child care of low income families and BANANAS pays for the child care of over 3,500 children each year. BANANAS also operates other short term projects including Parent Voices which is organizing parents to advocate for more government-funded child care and family support services.