The Caring for MI Future: Facilities Improvement Fund transformed child care spaces across the state of Michigan, leading to more quality, accessible options for more families.
In a Nutshell
What: On behalf of the State of Michigan, IFF administered the Caring for MI Future: Facilities Improvement Fund grant program to new and expanding child care providers across the state of Michigan in order to renovate, repair, and upgrade child care facilities to provide more quality care so more families have access to the child care they deserve.
Sector: Early Childhood Education
Location: Michigan
Sources of Funding: $59 million awarded to the State of Michigan through the American Rescue Plan Act
Impact: More than 1,000 early childhood education (ECE) programs completed more than 3,600 projects and created more than 10,000 new child care seats
“I have people and families ask me if it’s OK to have a baby,” said Keri Magadanz. “They say, ‘We want to have a baby, but will there be a space for them in your daycare? If there isn’t, how long will we have to wait to be able to have a baby?’”
Napping in the next room as Magadanz shared her experience was a 5-week-old infant. Magadanz, owner of Love, Hug and Learn Daycare, in Marquette, Michigan, said she was able to tell that child’s parents, ‘Yes. I’ll have a space for you,’ because of renovations made possible by the Caring for MI Future: Facilities Improvement Fund (CFMF: FIF). A $59 million grant program administered by IFF on behalf of the State of Michigan, CFMF: FIF distributed American Rescue Plan Act funding to new and expanding child care providers across Michigan to renovate, repair, and upgrade child care facilities. CFMF: FIF helped more than 1,000 early childhood education (ECE) programs complete more than 3,600 projects between the launch of the program in November 2022 and the end of last year. These projects resulted in more than 10,000 new child care seats statewide, helping more Michigan families access quality ECE programs while supporting ECE providers that are often forced to make do with limited resources.
“I lost my assistant at the beginning of COVID,” said Magadanz. “I’ve been doing this on my own until just a couple months ago. Honestly, I was burning out. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to stay open. The grant made it possible for me to make renovations to my home that allow me to have capacity for two infants. Knowing how important that is to families in this area, that really reinvigorated me. It brought me back.”
Meeting the Need
Almost every state in the U.S. struggles with demand for child care that vastly outweighs the available slots, and Michigan is no exception. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), in the majority of Michigan counties, three or more children are competing for every single child care slot. Through CFMF: FIF, grantees undertook projects that supported the growth, expansion, and longevity of ECE programs by creating more quality spaces for the children and families they serve. With home-based programs receiving up to $50,000, and center-based programs receiving up to $150,000, upgrades to existing child care facilities ranged from replacing old furnaces and windows to outdoor learning and safe indoor play spaces, and more.
“The timing for this grant was so on the dot. It is a solid building, but it is old. There were a lot of repairs and renovations needed before we could have children in there. Knowing we’d have the grant funds to help with the renovations, we purchased the building and redid 11 rooms. I can’t even imagine how many years and how much money we saved by being able to do this all at once and with the quality the families deserve.”
“Child care is hard on facilities, especially homes, and many providers have had to defer maintenance,” said Mary Manner, Great Start Collaborative co-coordinator and Great Start to Quality co-director for the United Way of Northwest Michigan, whose team served as one of 10 regional partners that worked closely with IFF to ensure applicants had the best support possible throughout the grant process. “Part of the reason is the incredibly thin margins in child care, but providers also know they need to have a cushion of funds. If licensing comes in and flags an issue, the provider has to fix it immediately. So, they know the floor needs to be replaced, but it’s fine for now just in case something else goes wrong.”
Lisa Hunt, president and owner of Phoenix Child Care & Academy in Jackson, Michigan, knows well the pressure of trying to plan and prepare for looming repair needs. Hunt’s center-based program was renting an old elementary school building the district had shut down. She and her staff were using only a couple of the 22 rooms in the building. The dream was to purchase the building, use all the rooms, and become a child care hub for the county.
“The timing for this grant was so on the dot,” said Hunt. “It is a solid building, but it is old. There were a lot of repairs and renovations needed before we could have children in there. Knowing we’d have the grant funds to help with the renovations, we purchased the building and redid 11 rooms. I can’t even imagine how many years and how much money we saved by being able to do this all at once and with the quality the families deserve.”
In addition to facilitating renovations and the purchase of furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) for existing child care spaces, CFMF: FIF enabled providers to open new programs and gave them the opportunity to be innovative with their facilities and their funding. Etta Heisler, executive director of Green Apple Nature Playschool in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was awarded the $150,000 maximum for center-based programs. She used the funds to purchase all the FF&E for a brand-new center. But she also found another way to leverage the funds for her program.
“This grant made possible an approach that can serve as a model for how public-private partnership can catalyze child care access in a community,” Heisler said.” Working with our local community foundation, our landlord, and our donors, we leveraged the grants we received through Caring for MI Future to secure funding that covered additional costs and operating expenses during the renovation.”
Based on the guaranteed CFMF funding, she and her team were able to raise more than $350,000 in additional funding, vastly increasing the scope and impact of the project.
“Because the CFMF grants guaranteed us a specific amount of funding for the essential elements of the project, other philanthropic sources could come in to close other gaps,” said Heisler. “No single funder had to bear the entire cost burden, and Apple Playschools can now focus our fundraising efforts on scholarships that increase family access rather than on covering capital costs.”
Communities of Support
Tamika Cordell, owner of Blooming Sunflowers Early Learning Center in Flint, Michigan, had worked in ECE for more than 20 years, including as executive director of several programs, but building an entirely new child care center was an eye-opening experience.
“We helped guide them, but it was also about easing their anxiety, helping them not be overwhelmed by the whole process. It’s important that it’s recognized how much we appreciated the support from IFF. If you were following the road map and recommendations they provided, it was seamless.”
“I always wanted to run my own center, and this grant allowed me to open my dream center,” said Cordell. “I’m not going to lie, it’s been scary – doing it on my own. I don’t have HR, no one else is doing payroll, no one else is handling the grant process. It was not easy. But that’s what I do. I took the tools offered by IFF, and I made it work.”
One of the most important tools IFF provided grantees was leveraging community partners from across the state. Through close collaboration, 10 Great Start to Quality (GSQ) child care resource centers representing all regions in the state acted as an extension of IFF, providing intensive one-on-one support for providers from a position of trust and respect within their communities.
“Being a child care provider is incredibly complex,” explained Manner. “You are interacting with the State and other entities as a small business and as a licensed provider. It’s a lot to manage, and there is not always someone you can talk with and ask questions. We’re the people they can talk to. They know us. Trust is very important for ECE folks who often feel like they have to go it alone. Even if we don’t know the answers, they trust us to find it or help point them in the right direction.”
Regional partners supported providers through the application process including navigating the online grant portal, assisting in working with contractors, providing best practices for child care facilities, and more. And while technical expertise was important, supporting providers sometimes meant simply serving as a sounding board.
“We’d sit down with them, and they’d ask, ‘What sort of things should I do with the funds? I think I want to do this, is that a good idea?’” said Deb Dupras, program director for GSQ Michigan Upper Peninsula Resource Center (4C of the UP). “We helped guide them, but it was also about easing their anxiety, helping them not be overwhelmed by the whole process. It’s important that it’s recognized how much we appreciated the support from IFF. If you were following the road map and recommendations they provided, it was seamless.”
Changing Perceptions and Strengthening Communities
For ECE providers who were awarded grant funding through CFMF: FIF, improving their facilities meant expanding their capacity, enhancing children’s access to quality care and education, and making it easier to attract and retain valued employees. And while these benefits alone are compelling, the positive impact of the initiative has been even more robust.
“These improvements, which they couldn’t have made on their own, changed and motivated the providers. When you’re in a beautiful, safe space, you have more energy, and you’re more likely to try new things—like finding new ways to engage and teach the children.”
“It is super rewarding seeing providers getting funds, and then even more rewarding to see the improvements they made with the grant,” said Cristy Monge Franco, a bilingual quality improvement specialist with the GSQ Kent Resource Center (Kent County ISD). “These improvements, which they couldn’t have made on their own, changed and motivated the providers. When you’re in a beautiful, safe space, you have more energy, and you’re more likely to try new things—like finding new ways to engage and teach the children.”
According to Monge Franco, the upgrades facilitated by CFMF: FIF extended beyond visible physical improvements, with most of the providers she helped advancing from the middle of the GSQ Quality Rating System to the top. The rating system takes into account educational programming, practices and policies, support for families, professional development for staff, and other programmatic factors. Regional partners also noted a shift in perception of ECE providers as a result of CFMF: FIF, particularly in rural areas like much of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
“Not enough people think of child care as a profession,” said Dupras. “We’re trying to build up how providers present themselves. They aren’t just babysitters. They are one of the most important people in those kiddos’ lives. Think about how much time they spend with a child care provider, during the most important developmental years of their lives. These grants helped build providers’ confidence both as small business owners and in their role in the community. Families benefit when the provider is confident.”
Learn more about IFF’s early childhood education work in Michigan