For most families in the Second District, childcare is one of the largest expenses they face, sometimes rivaling the cost of housing. Parents are forced into impossible choices: leave the workforce, patch together unreliable arrangements, or hand over a paycheck just to keep their kids cared for while they work. This is not sustainable, and it holds back parents, children, and our whole economy at the same time.
Families are the center of my campaign because they have been the center of my life’s work. I have spent years building programs that support youth and the parents raising them. I know that when a family has reliable, affordable care for their children, everything else becomes possible. A parent can take the better job. A child arrives at school ready to learn. The household finally has a little room to breathe.
My signature proposal in this area is the creation of Family Care Hubs: federally supported local centers that bring together the services families need most under one roof. Instead of forcing parents to drive across the district chasing childcare in one place, tutoring in another, and a clinic somewhere else, a Family Care Hub combines affordable childcare, academic tutoring and enrichment, and basic health services in a single, accessible location in the community.
This model works because it meets families where they are. A working parent can drop off a child, know they are safe and learning, and pick them up after work without coordinating five different schedules. A child who needs extra help in reading can get it. A family without easy access to care can see a provider. The hub becomes a trusted anchor in the neighborhood, especially in the rural and suburban areas where services are spread thin.
In Congress, I will fight for the federal funding that makes hubs like these possible and for broader investment in affordable, high-quality childcare across the district. I will also support paid family leave and policies that recognize a simple truth: when we make it easier to raise a family, we strengthen the entire community.
I am running because too many decisions in Washington are made without families in mind. I have built my career around them, and I intend to bring that focus to Congress. When we support parents and invest in children, we are not spending money. We are building the future of Minnesota’s Second District.
