Spotlight on Activists: Dahlia Garcia
Dinuba, California
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Dahlia Garcia is on a mission. She's out knocking on doors, talking to child care providers like herself about building a union. She's also talking to politicians to make sure child care providers get the recognition and respect we deserve.
As a volunteer member organizer over the past few months, Garcia has traveled to Oregon, Pennsylvania and most recently New Mexico, making hundreds of house visits to other family child care providers. A dynamic, bilingual speaker, she frequently appears at rallies and organizing conferences. Undaunted by state legislators who tower over her, she's passionate in making the case that although there are no safety nets in their line of work, they provide the safety nets — for the children in their care.
The eldest daughter of migrant workers, Garcia spent most of her youth taking care of seven younger siblings. "I feel like I've been taking care of children all of my life," she says. Fifteen years ago, prompted largely by her desire to be at home with her own three kids, she quit her accounting job in order to open her own home-based family child care business.
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"She got our whole family to get involved in her mission to build a union for child care providers," says eldest daughter, Rosie, who has gone out with her mom on house visits. "People are easily drawn to her because she doesn't have to make anything up. Her love for kids comes through. She's for real."