Wyndy Partners With Businesses & Launches New Markets in Effort to Assist Families Impacted by School Closures

March 16, 2020

Wyndy, the Birmingham-based app connecting parents to its network of more than 5,000 vetted, background-checked college sitters, is stepping up efforts to assist companies and their employees who are being impacted by the growing number of school and daycare closures.

"We understand that many companies right now are looking for creative ways to help employees with children manage their professional and personal obligations. We are inviting companies to reimburse employees who use Wyndy so those employees are able to continue to work while their young children are at home," said Tommy Mayfield, Wyndy's founder and CEO.

A number of tech companies have already announced similar plans for their employees. Jennifer Christe, Twitter's VP of People, for example, recently announced the company would be providing reimbursement for additional daycare expenses incurred by its employees.

"We already have a number of companies who provide Wyndy as an additional employee benefit. In light of the current situation, we believe more companies will consider adding such a benefit. Doing so is not only a great way to help working parents, but also a smart business move, especially for professional firms whose workers often charge by the hour."

In addition to partnering with employers, Wyndy is also planning to immediately open several new markets to help parents in those cities manage their childcare needs. These new markets, which will go live on March 16, include Auburn, Montgomery, and Huntsville.

"While the addition of new Wyndy markets was already on the horizon, we have received an increasing number of requests from parents who are in urgent need of childcare. By opening up new markets, parents will have immediate access to vetted, background-checked sitters in their city." said Landon Howell, Wyndy's Vice President of Operations.

"Our main priority is the well-being of all of our users and the communities where they live," says Mayfield. "Given how fluid the situation around COVID-19 is, our team will continue to monitor developments and implement any changes needed to ensure that we are able to continue to connect families to sitters without creating unreasonable risks to any users or to the community at large."

For more information on Wyndy and its efforts to partner with employers interested in helping their employees with children, visit wyndy.com/employers.

Wyndy is a free Birmingham-based app with a network of more than 5,000 vetted, background-checked college sitters. The app launched in March 2017 and currently operates in 19 markets across 8 southeastern states. Through the app, families have received more than 250,000 hours of childcare.