In 1998, nine Minneapolis organizations—under the direction of Dr. Terrie Rose—pooled resources and know-how to help low-income families catch up with the requirements of the nation’s sweeping 1996 welfare-to-work policies.

Proscribing training and paid jobs for parents on public assistance, this new legislation created a huge gap between the supply and demand for childcare nationwide. It offered no standards about quality and consistency of care. In Minneapolis’ Phillips neighborhood local families faced the enormous new challenge of juggling parenting, childcare, and work demands, usually within the stressful contexts of community and domestic violence, and substance abuse.