In addition to its regular babysitting offerings, Birmingham’s Wyndy has added employer partnerships and a nanny program to the services it offers.
Birmingham’s Wyndy was born out of the need to solve a problem.
In 2017, founders Ginger and Tommy Mayfield had two daughters under the age of five and had trouble finding reliable, consistent babysitters. So, they developed an app where users can easily find, book and pay college babysitters that today serves 21 markets around the Southeast.
Now Wyndy is solving a different kind of problem by responding to COVID-19 and the still-limited childcare options available with a new program to help Birmingham employers provide childcare to its employees impacted by school and daycare closures. The program provides flexible options for employers, and Wyndy can manage all of the logistics around implementing the program, including enrolling employees, reporting on utilization and handling reimbursements.
“Childcare is something a huge swath of the workforce needs help with,” said Wyndy’s Tommy Mayfield. “I read a New York Times article that talks about how, in light of COVID, the cost of childcare is so high that it has almost put parents in the position of having a job or taking care of their kids – but they can’t have both. It’s too expensive. Our hope is that more employers will recognize the need and partner with us to provide better childcare benefits to their employees who need help in order to perform their jobs effectively.”
Wyndy has expanded from Birmingham to 21 markets across the Southeastern United States.
Wyndy has also added a nanny program to its services offered to provide more regular, consistent childcare for families who need it. It still offers its on-demand babysitting services via the Wyndy app, enabling families to quickly connect with a vetted, background-checked college student that best fits with their family.
“Historically Wyndy has really been focused more on one-off type needs, but when schools shut down in the spring, we realized more and more parents needed regular help, and, given the public health concerns, many parents preferred to have one sitter come and work for them on a regular basis,” Mayfield said.
Wyndy has been intentional about mitigating risk and partnered with Dr. Ellen Eaton, who specializes in infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), to serve as an advisor to educate the company on the best ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19 within the business, not only for sitters and the families they serve but for the community at large.
“This is a priority for us and will continue to be as we move through this,” Mayfield said. “We’re at a place in society where we unfortunately can’t completely eliminate the risk, but we are doing what we can to reduce and mitigate the risk.”
Wyndy has expanded from the Birmingham market to 21 markets across the Southeast, with roughly 20,000 families using the app for over 275,000 hours of care. In Birmingham alone, Wyndy has put almost $3 million in the pockets of local college students who can babysit as much or as little as they would like.