LADOGA — Early Learning Indiana recently awarded a $20,000 grant to Fuzzy Bear Ministry Preschool & Daycare as part of the $15 million Come Back Stronger Fund, supported by Lilly Endowment, to reinforce Indiana’s supply of high-quality early learning opportunities, especially for the state’s most vulnerable children. Fuzzy Bear will use the grant funds to support safety-related expenses and challenges as it continues to serve families in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The health and safety of our children, families and staff is our top priority,” said Fuzzy Bear Director Kim McVay. “In order for our community to come back stronger from the pandemic, high-quality child care is extremely important, and we’re committed to supporting families who need child care by providing a safe and educational environment.”
This grant will help the center pay for additional learning materials such as individualized learning kits for each child. This will also allow for adding a teacher to the roster so class sizes can be reduced, which is a great need due to social distancing and safety protocols.
“The pandemic has shone a light on the critical role early care and education providers play in our society,” said Early Learning Indiana President and CEO Maureen Weber. “Families need quality child care in order to go back to work, and children need safe and engaging environments to grow and learn. We’re grateful to Fuzzy Bear’s commitment to providing high-quality child care, and we’re excited to see what they and the other 154 providers do with their Come Back Stronger Fund grants.”
Early Learning Indiana awarded a total of $2,341,000 to 155 providers in this first round of grant awards. Fuzzy Bear was required to submit a narrative on how it would use the grant funds and serve children from vulnerable populations, as well as meet the following criteria:
• Be a licensed and registered center, ministry or family child care home provider in Indiana in good standing
• Be an approved CCDF or On My Way Pre-K provider or a provider that otherwise serves children from vulnerable family populations, defined as households at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level
• Operate as a Paths to QUALITY™ Level 3 or 4, or as a Paths to QUALITY™ Level 2 with a demonstrated commitment to achieving a higher level of program quality
• Serve children ages 0-5
Early child care organizations can still apply for a Come Back Stronger Fund grant at www.earlylearningin.org/comebackstronger.
