1 minute read
Funding from the Heart
from The Building Blocks of Early Learning in Gwinnett - Building Babies' Brains Inaugural Impact Report
Our funding strategy has been instrumental in ensuring that we stay true to our mission and guiding beliefs in order to achieve our goal. In the beginning, we made a conscious decision to not seek or accept any funding. Instead, we took the time to carefully determine our needs and identify our priorities. We wanted to be certain that any funding we received would align with and support our mission.
The first dollars needed to execute the strategy came from within. The key to success was taking each step in a methodical and purposeful manner, not driven by funding sources.
Advertisement
One early ask was for funding for our Brain at Work bags that would be provided to families of newborns at Northside Hospital Gwinnett. John Upchurch, one of the original members, now a lead facilitator and a loving grandfather to three of his own little learners stepped up. John set out on a mental and physical feat, biking from the Canadian border to San Francisco along the Pacific Coast Highway, using this adventure as a way to raise money specifically to support one of our earliest GBBB initiatives.
Riding the Pacific Coast Highway for over 1,100 miles was adventurous, scary and rewarding. As I dodged obstacles on my ride, I could not help but think of the obstacles our Gwinnett children and their parents face everyday. Providing parents with information and resources to build their child’s brain truly pushed me to finish this ride.
- John Upchurch
As the work grew, so did the need for additional funding. Over the past few years, the group has coalesced around the key levers and written numerous partnership grants, resulting in an astounding $1.2 million in funding.
We have been intentional in our approach, carefully identifying our needs and seeking out partners who share our vision, and we are proud of the work we have accomplished so far, but we know that there is still much more to do. As we look to the future, we are eager to continue expanding our reach to better serve Gwinnett’s early learning community. We know that additional funding will be needed to accomplish our next set of strategic priorities.
