For Immediate Release: June 1, 2017
As a part of its mission to increase early educational opportunities across the state, today Early Learning Indiana announced grants totaling $100,000 to support the work of four early education coalitions.
Ready to Grow St. Joe (St. Joseph County), Forward Wayne County, Human Capital Pipeline (Wayne County), Southern Indiana Early Care & Education Guiding Team (Clark, Harrison, Floyd, Scott and Washington counties) and Success By 6 (Clay, Parke, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo counties) will each receive $25,000 to expand local efforts to increase accessibility to high-quality early learning opportunities.
“Coalitions like these are critical to building support, pulling partners together and creating the infrastructure needed at the local level to make high-quality early education for our youngest citizens a reality,” said Ted Maple, Early Learning Indiana President and CEO. “We are proud to support their efforts and look forward to the progress they will make.”
Funded through a $20-million Lilly Endowment grant made in 2014 to Early Learning Indiana, this is the first time the organization has made awards to support local coalitions. Funds will be used over the next year to support staff costs, create public awareness campaigns, collect and analyze local data, and create strategic plans.
“Each community faces unique challenges in creating an early education system that will work best for them – and these grants give us the flexibility to do what we need to do in St. Joseph County,” said Emily Rupchock, Coordinator of Ready to Grow St. Joe in South Bend. “Ultimately, while this benefits coalitions like ours, the greatest impact of this investment will be in the lives of the young children and families in our community.”
Media Contact: Jeff Harris, 317.636.9197 ext. 337, jeffh@earlylearningindiana.org
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