Colorado Voices: April Pratt, Colorado Springs

April Pratt lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado with her three daughters, ages eight, two-and-a-half, and one-and-a-half. When April was pregnant with her youngest daughter, her husband tragically passed away. Now she’s the sole breadwinner for the family. And although she works full-time at the local school, there’s not much left after her mortgage, diapers, and groceries for three young kids. Thanks to the CTC, April can afford the $1,200 a month for childcare for her two youngest kids so she can work.

She said, “If I wasn’t able to afford child care, I’d have to quit my job.”

Without the Child Tax Credit, April said she’d be “forced to use my credit cards to fill in gaps, and that debt just accumulates and accumulates, and that becomes crippling, and my family wouldn’t be able to get ahead.” April said it was “nice that our government is finally doing something to help working families and middle class families.”