Child care update: funding, training, and advocacy

The Northland Foundation has been in the thick of early care and education for nearly two decades, and it’s a topic that is hotter than ever.

“No matter where I go in our region, people are talking about child care. Employers, local leaders, economic developers, early care and education providers, parents, grandparents … everyone is concerned about it,” stated Northland Foundation President, Tony Sertich.

Our work to increase regional availability of and access to quality child care falls into four broad categories: (1) equity to help create more child care spaces in the region, (2) state-funded child care scholarships for families, (3) training and business consulting for child care professionals, and (4) advocacy to spur solutions at the local, regional, and state levels.

Start-up and Expansion Grants

The child care business takes a lot of heart and hard costs: meeting strict building codes, cribs and high chairs, playground equipment, and more. Financing a new facility or expanding an existing one can be a heavy lift for child care entrepreneurs. With recent funding of $240,000 through the MN Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), the Northland Foundation will be able to make equity investments in the form of grants to eight-to-ten child care center projects. When completed, they are expected to add 500 new, primarily infant and toddler slots. The latest DEED funding is an increase over similar, smaller awards received in 2017, 2018, and 2019 which totaled $300,000 altogether and helped support 16 projects.

There is a great need for many more spaces – the regional shortfall hovers around 4,800 slots – and for financing assistance to help start-up and expansion projects come to fruition. In August, we conducted a survey to get a better sense for the number of “shovel ready” child care projects in the region. Nearly two dozen respondents outlined projects totaling over $5 million.

Clearly there is appetite to develop more child care in the region, and Northland continues to seek resources to boost child care creation in our rural communities.

Early Learning Scholarships

Starting in July 2017, the Northland Foundation became a Minnesota Early Learning Scholarships administrator for the seven-county region. With approximately $2 million made available in funding each year, the Foundation team processes applications for scholarships offering up to $12,000 per year to help eligible families afford Parent Aware-rated child care or preschool programs.

“We cannot thrive as a region unless fundamental community assets like access to quality child care are a reality for all families in all our communities.” – Tony Sertich, President

Northland’s longtime Parent Aware Pathways work is a fitting counterpart for Early Learning Scholarships, as it helps to increase the number of rated programs available to families who qualify for a scholarship.

Training and Technical Assistance

High-quality child care requires more than a building and supplies. It also takes knowledge and skills to provide developmentally appropriate care that prepares children for kindergarten and beyond, and it takes business savvy to successfully manage the business.

In 2013, we launched Parent Aware Pathways to help child care providers embark on Parent Aware, Minnesota’s voluntary rating system for program quality. We have worked closely with Child Care Aware of Minnesota-Northeast District to offer hundreds of trainings at no cost to providers. Thanks to state agency and foundation funding partners, more than one-third of licensed programs in our region have now earned or are in process of earning a Parent Aware rating—one of the highest attainment levels of any region in the state. Other training and technical assistance includes:

▪ supporting mentoring opportunities for licensed child care programs and family, friend, and neighbor caregivers;
▪ connecting child care providers to business development and consulting resources like First Children’s Finance, Business of Child Care, the Northland Small Business Development Center, and others; and
▪ assisting with community planning to develop local solutions to increase the supply of child care.

Information and Advocacy

The Northland Foundation is among a growing number of private and public sector organizations working individually and collectively to move the dial on child care. Northland and many other partners have persistently pushed child care to “top of the list” of every community conversation. What we all know is that the current child care system is broken. And we need child care to work, not just for our families, but also to make our communities more livable and improve our economy.

We and our partners are doing what we can to help within the current system, but much more needs to be done. Fixing the system is not the responsibility of child care providers, who are busy doing amazing work with our children. A challenge of this magnitude, with so much at stake, calls for engagement by the business community, civic leaders, school districts, and – most importantly – policy makers.

“Early care and education can and must be solved with policy and investments that empower Minnesota families to provide the best life they possibly can for their children and our communities.” – Tony Sertich

As conversations and decision-making about the future of child care continues, the Northland Foundation is working steadily across all four strategies to help families, providers, employers, and communities move forward toward solutions.

Introducing a new board trustee and three new staff members

The Northland Foundation is thrilled to have welcomed a new board member and three new staff members in the past few months.

“It’s been several years since we’ve had a member from Koochiching County. Ashley’s experience in both nonprofit and small business leadership is a great match for our mission,” stated Northland Foundation’s President, Tony Sertich. “And, it’s been great to see small business activity steadily increasing across the region. Amanda, Christopher, and Katherine add much-needed financing and technical assistance capacity.”

Ashley Hall joined the Board of Trustees in September. She is the Executive Director of the Falls Hunger Coalition, a nonprofit food shelf addressing food insecurity in Koochiching County. She is also an entrepreneur and fitness instructor who has owned Evolve U Fitness and Wellness since 2013. In addition to the Northland Foundation, Hall sits on the board of Second Harvest North Central Food Bank and is a past president of the International Falls Rotary Club as well as served at the Rotary Club district level.

Katherine Lahti began as a Business Consultant with the Northland Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in July and primarily serves small business clients in northern St. Louis County within the Quad Cities and East Range area. Katherine graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth with a BA in History. She previously worked at Barr Engineering Co. providing support on regional-to-international engineering and design projects. She and her husband also operate his family’s fourth-generation farm.

**Katherine Lahti, SBDC Business Consultant**

Christopher Henagin came on board as a Business Consultant with the Northland SBDC in October. He will be serving the Northeast region of the state. Christopher graduated from the College of St. Scholastica with a BA in Marketing. He has previous experience as a financial advisor, digital marketing specialist, and is a small business owner.

**Christopher Henagin, SBDC Business Consultant**

Amanda Vuicich recently joined the Northland Foundation’s Business Services Program as an Economic Development Specialist/Small Business Lender. She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the University of Minnesota Duluth. She spent the past four years managing internal operations for Northspan while also consulting with clients on a range of projects. A large concentration of her work has focused on supporting non-profit lending requests, administering grant programs, and assisting local lenders with packaging SBA 7a small business loans.

**Amanda Vuicich, Economic Development Specialist & Small Business Lender**

Meet the three latest additions to our staff

New Executive Administrator and Program Officers

It has been a busy few months at the Northland Foundation including hiring and on-boarding several employees. Get to know the three newest members of our staff team.

Nichele Canavan has been working as the Executive Administrator since November. She provides key administrative support to the President/CEO and to the Board of Trustees. Nichele comes to the Foundation following nearly nine years as an Executive Assistant with the Duluth Public Schools – ISD 709. There, she supported the work of the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching, Learning & Equity and the Duluth School Board. Additional prior professional experience includes a decade in Arizona where Nichele worked as a licensed Realtor, as well as served as the Marketing Director for a title company.

**Nichele Canavan, Executive Administrator**

Taylor Holm joined the Foundation as a Program Officer in early January. She works with the Northland’s program and development team, including regional early childhood, intergenerational, and aging initiatives, grant writing and development support, and program evaluation. For the past six years, she was the Executive Director at Community Partners, an aging services nonprofit organization located in Two Harbors, MN. Past professional experience includes work in mental health services and training support for people with disabilities. She has a master’s degree in social work. Taylor is a North Shore Rotary Club member and past Blandin Community Leadership Program participant.

Cayla Bellanger DeGroat is brand-new to the Foundation as of mid-February. As a Program Officer, she will devote much of her time to Northland’s Indigenous-led program, Maada’ookiing. Cayla is an enrolled member of Gaa-waabaabiganikaag, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. She holds a bachelor’s degree in American Indian Studies and master’s degree in Tribal Administration and Governance. She has worked in White Earth as a Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and Homeless Housing Resource Specialist, and most recently as Community Outreach Coordinator with the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Department of American Indian Studies.

“The good work of the Northland Foundation in our region is a direct reflection of a staff that is talented, dedicated, and grounded in the mission,” stated Tony Sertich, President. “Cayla, Taylor, and Nichele bring all of those qualities to their respective roles. We are thrilled to have them here.”

**Cayla Bellanger DeGroat, Program Officer**

Seeds of Growth: check out the 2020-2021 annual report

The pandemic has affected life as we knew it, and it’s important to acknowledge the struggles. Yet, there are many reasons to be grateful and hopeful.

People and organizations have shown great resilience. They acted boldly, adjusted course, shared resources and inspiration, and led incredible new efforts. It is an honor to call out some of their accomplishments in our 2020-2021 annual report published last month.

It’s all here: the record (by far) grantmaking and funding support received, the launch of an exciting Indigenous-led program, support for tour region’s Small Business Development Center, continued small business development lending and KIDS PLUS programming, and other special initiatives.

Please visit northlandfdn.org/annual-report for the full details of grants, loans, funding, and uplifting stories. Our region keeps going, and growing, through it all.