INDIANAPOLIS — 155 Indiana early child care and education providers are receiving a financial boost.
They will share in more than $2.3 million in grants from Early Learning Indiana to assist with safety-related expenses and challenges associated with the pandemic. This is the first round of grants that are part of the $15 million Come Back Stronger Fund, made possible by a grant from Lilly Endowment.
“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. “It’s estimated that nearly one-third of our state’s child care providers made the difficult decision to close their doors when the pandemic first hit. Now as many of them re-open to serve families who need quality care in order to go back to work, safety is of utmost importance. We’re excited to see how providers use their grants to increase health and safety measures and expand to serve more families who need care.”
More than 400 providers applied for funding in the first two weeks. Early Learning Indiana will notify new awardees each week. Grant awards are of varying amounts up to $40,000 based on enrollment and the percentage of children served who receive federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) or On My Way Pre-K assistance from the state of Indiana.
In their grant applications, providers detail how they would use grant funding to more safely serve families and expand to serve additional families.
