Funding partners support healthy social emotional development of young children
$38,000 in funding from the Center for Inclusive Child Care Expand Supports for Family, Friend and Neighbor Caregivers
The Northland Foundation is partnering with the Center for Inclusive Child Care (CICC) to expand educational opportunities for informal caregivers of young children. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, and friends, often referred to as FFN child care providers, offer legal, unlicensed child care to many families especially for those with infants and toddlers, in diverse cultural and ethnic communities, or working non-standard-hour jobs. This project is made possible with funding from the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
“We are excited to receive this funding to support FFN child care providers, as well as strengthen connections to local early childhood services and resources,” said Lynn Haglin, Vice President and KIDS PLUS Director at the Northland Foundation.
During the summer and fall, the Northland Foundation will work with three partners in Duluth and Carlton County to offer “Play and Learn” sessions for FFN providers to make available information on young children's healthy development, early literacy, and school readiness. A series of virtual training sessions will reach additional informal caregivers across the region.
Compeer Financial expands support with $20,000 for regional recovery from the impacts of COVID-19
Compeer Financial has awarded $20,000 to the Northland Foundation for pandemic response and relief efforts across our rural region.
“In 2020, our local communities had some pretty immediate needs, and still today, the impacts of COVID-19 persist,” said John Monson, chief mission and marketing officer at Compeer Financial.
The Compeer Financial Fund for Rural America is the corporate giving program of Compeer Financial, a farm lending cooperative serving Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Since 2009, Compeer has given $110,000 to Northland Foundation programming, with $55,000 received in the past 15 months alone.
“Compeer Financial has been a consistent partner year after year and, without our even asking, increased their support significantly in 2020 and 2021,” said Tony Sertich, Northland Foundation President. “We are grateful for their continued generosity.”
Grant from The Sheltering Arms Foundation will support trainings focused on young children
The Northland Foundation has been awarded a $15,000 grant from The Sheltering Arms Foundation in support of young children's social emotional needs and learning.
The funding will help provide educational workshops for people working with young children and families in a variety of settings, including informal family, friend, and neighbor care; licensed child care; school-based early childhood programs; and early elementary classrooms. It will also support mentoring for licensed child care programs in targeted sites, in partnership with school-based early childhood programs.
“The Sheltering Arms Foundation is a strong ally for young children and families in our region,” stated Lynn Haglin, Northland Foundation Vice President and KIDS PLUS Director. “This grant will bring accessible information and supports to the adults who care for our youngest northeastern Minnesotans.”