3 minute read
MAKING CONNECTIONS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Carol Johnson, director of United Day Care Center located in downtown Muncie, has spent her career in early childhood. Like most childcare centers across the community, United Day Care has faced many challenges since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some centers shut down in March of 2020. Like United Day Care, those that stayed open quickly modified their operations, adding unexpected expenses to traditionally tight budgets. As centers began to reopen, they also faced additional costs by providing staff with appropriate personal protective equipment and added classroom supplies to follow the Centers for Disease Control guidance. Additionally, many centers have reported a significant staffing shortage as workers choose to stay home for their health and safety.
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“The Early Childhood Community is facing so many challenges,” said Carol. “As with all other businesses, we are short-staffed. In addition, there are not enough people applying with the training and education needed for centers to meet requirements for Paths to Quality levels 3 and 4.”
The Community Foundation recognizes the importance of early childhood development for young people in our community. Since 2013, The Community Foundation has funded the BY5 Early Childhood Initiative as a supporting organization through operational support. The organization aims to transform our community by connecting Kindergarten readiness to economic success. BY5 increases awareness of the importance of early learning and supports families, ensuring access to high-quality early learning opportunities.
Working closely with BY5 to identify centers with critical needs, The Community Foundation, through the support of the Funders Forum, awarded $2,000 to each of eight childcare centers across the community for emergency needs in May of 2020. Centers could use the funds however they needed. Most used them to offset the cost of additional cleaning supplies, personal protective gear, and modified play and learning activities.
Through additional conversations with BY5 and early childhood care providers, it became apparent that the needs in this field were significant. In late summer 2020, IU Health Foundation invited community foundations to apply for funds to address local needs through the Community Impact Investment Fund. The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County submitted a request to benefit the local early childhood education field.
“Access to early childhood education and safe childcare is a key to our community reaching a place of recovery and a more resilient future,” said Kelly K. Shrock, president of The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County. “The Community Foundation is uniquely positioned to help find and bring outside funding into our community to meet the needs today and position our community better for the future.”
The Community Foundation was awarded $205,000 from IU Health and an additional $25,000 in matching from Early Learning Indiana. The funding has been redistributed to four childcare centers to meet their most critical needs and to BY5 to develop a Childcare Provider Resource Program. The Childcare Provider Resource Program identifies needs and provides opportunities to all direct childcare providers in the community. An assistant director of childcare resources has already begun to host monthly provider calls to strengthen relationships among childcare providers and help inform BY5 of the most pressing needs. Through the program, BY5 will be able to offer desired training for local early childhood professionals, support centers as they work toward Paths to Quality Level 3 and 4 certifications, purchase common curricula for all Paths to Quality Level 3 and 4 childcare providers, and meet other needs as they arise.
