110 Receive Emergency Child Care Grants
April 2, 2020
With available resources of $150,500, the Initiative Foundation the week of March 31 awarded 110 emergency child care grants to Central Minnesota providers who care for children of emergency and essential workers across the region.
The Emergency Child Care Grant Program for Central Minnesota was launched with a $50,000 allocation from the Initiative Foundation and $100,000 from the Minnesota Council on Foundation and its Minnesota Disaster Recovery Fund for Coronavirus.
First-round grant awards have depleted available funds. However, we continue to seek additional resources and will act on a second round of grants should funding be secured.
Launched in concert with its five Minnesota Initiative Foundation sister organizations, and at the request of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Initiative Foundation's Emergency Child Care Grant Program was intended to serve as a financial bridge to other sources of funding for the area's child care providers. Grant awards were directed to providers in all 14 Central Minnesota counties who serve a high number of children (birth to 5) of first responders, emergency personnel, health care workers or anyone else deemed essential to work during this crisis.
NEW: Child Care Aware Opens Peacetime Emergency Child Care Grants Program
Child Care Aware has opened the application process for its Peacetime Emergency Child Care Grants program to support licensed Minnesota child care providers serving essential workers during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The $30 million Peacetime Emergency Child Care Grants program was approved by the Minnesota Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz on March 28 as part of the state's COVID-19 Response Supplemental Budget.