On behalf of the State of Michigan, IFF administered $59 million in federal funding through the Caring for MI Future: Facilities Improvement Fund (CFMF FIF) to help child care programs throughout the state repair, renovate, and otherwise improve their facilities and provide higher quality care. Part of the larger Caring for MI Future initiative – a $100 million investment of American Rescue Plan Act funding designed to help more Michigan families find quality, affordable child care – CFMF FIF funds supported more than 3,600 facility projects completed by more than 1,000 new or expanding programs across the state.
The vast array of projects undertaken by the grantees is perhaps best exemplified by Etta Heisler and Taunya Sims. These two child care providers shared their projects during a September panel discussion moderated by IFF.
“I am grateful and thankful for what I have been able to do with this grant. It allowed me to upgrade areas within my child care [space] that I couldn’t have done on my own. Because of these funds, I am proud to show my space and share with others the importance of a quality program.”
“I am grateful and thankful for what I have been able to do with this grant,” said Sims, owner of the home-based program Jus Us Kidz Child Care and Family Services in Lansing, Michigan. “It allowed me to upgrade areas within my child care [space] that I couldn’t have done on my own. Because of these funds, I am proud to show my space and share with others the importance of a quality program.”
Sims, who was awarded the $50,000 maximum for home-based programs, used the grant to replace old, damaged flooring with new micro-antibacterial material; replace leaky windows with energy efficient, eco-friendly versions; and install new outdoor play fixtures and a new, expanded use washer and dryer.
“I am a 24-hour program. We utilize the laundry room throughout the day and night,” Sims said. “Our new laundry system allows us to not only wash, but to sanitize and steam the children’s blankets and bedding. With the quick wash option, we can clean bibs and clothes and have them dried and ready for the next learning activity. The extra capacity of the washer allows us to wash more items, more quickly. This means we can help more than just the children in our care. We’ve had families who are unhoused. Now we are able to wash the parents and family’s clothes, so they have one less thing to worry about as they get back on their feet.”
Sims, who has been a child care provider for more than 30 years, says the funding allowed her to make improvements that will help the program stay healthy and safe for many more years to come.
“Our new laundry system allows us to not only wash, but to sanitize and steam the children’s blankets and bedding. With the quick wash option, we can clean bibs and clothes and have them dried and ready for the next learning activity.”
“Your confidence in, and grant support for, our child care program reinforces our commitment to providing high-quality care and education,” she said. “I am dedicated to creating an environment where each child can thrive, learn, and develop to their fullest potential. This grant allowed me to do so much more than I could have done on my own.”
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 furniture, fixtures, and equipment 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. 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,” Heisler said. Based on the guaranteed CFMF FIF funding, she and her team were able to raise more than $300,000 in additional funding, vastly increasing the scope and impact of the project.
“Because the Facilities Fund 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. 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.”
The new center will create 50 new child care seats in a county that has eight children for every one available seat. These new seats will also provide enough new revenue to allow Green Apple to keep operating 50 infant and toddler seats they would have had to eliminate otherwise.
“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. 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.”
“Most other nonprofit child cares and preschools in the area do not provide care for children under 30 months for exactly this reason – it’s just too expensive,” Heisler says. “Infant-toddler care is a loss leader in the child care industry. At the same time, the need for infant-toddler care is rising. We know that many families, especially women and women of color, leave the workforce because they cannot afford care for their infants or toddlers. This grant allows us to not only provide essential care and high-quality jobs for more than 50 additional families, but we can do so without cutting the essential infant-toddler care services we provide that families already depend on.”
Sims and Heisler shared their stories at a celebration hosted by the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) in September marking the successes of Caring for MI Future.
“Michigan families and our economy depend on access to affordable and high-quality child care. Caring for MI Future shows just how much we can accomplish when we all work together to advance an important goal,” said Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea, director of MiLEAP. “Through the innovative efforts of the many Caring for MI Future partners, there are now thousands more child care options available for families. This is a great start, but the work is not done.”
Learn more about IFF’s work to expand access to quality early childhood education in Michigan