Infant & Toddler Care in Kosciusko Gets A Big Boost From Lilly Endowment Inc
Kosciusko County Community Foundation announced that it has received a $2,838,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to strengthen the learning and development of very young children in the northeastern Indiana community.
The grant will support a partnership between the Community Foundation and LaunchPad, Kosciusko County’s child care and early learning coalition. The goal of the partnership will be to enhance the operational capacity of LaunchPad, provide education and training resources for early learning professionals, and build child care and early learning capacity through grant investments in area nonprofit or school-based child care programs. Funding from Lilly Endowment will also support a feasibility study for a second- or third-shift child care and early learning program in the county.
“With support from this grant, many more Kosciusko County infants and toddlers will have access to the type of quality care and development opportunities that are essential to healthy development,” said Community Foundation CEO Stephanie Overbey.
The Community Foundation will share more details in 2024 regarding a grant program to help strengthen nonprofit and school-based child care programs to expand the number of infant and toddler seats they offer or to increase the quality of care they offer. For example, eligible child care organizations will be able to apply for grants to improve their facilities and increase their operating budgets to serve more children.
“We are thrilled about this new grant investment in children and families in Kosciusko County,” said LaunchPad Director, Sherry Searles.