OWATONNA, MN, December 3, 2019 – Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is currently accepting applications to support child care start-up and expansion projects. Child care centers and family child care programs in SMIF’s 20-county region are eligible to apply. Requests of up to $10,000 for child care centers and $2,000 for family child care programs will be considered.
“We are grateful to the State of Minnesota for providing funding to help increase the supply of quality child care in the region, and honored to support this program,” said Rae Jean Hansen, Vice President of Early Childhood at SMIF. “Increasing the number of child care slots in our region is a critical need for working families.”
Applicants are encouraged to consider submissions to support new or existing programs that demonstrate an increase in overall child care slots using the grant dollars. There will be a focus on programs that provide full-time, year-round child care for infants, toddlers, and preschool age children.
To provide additional support for development of grant applications, SMIF will be hosting two online information webinars to provide grant program overview and answer questions from interested parties:
•January 6, 2020, from 6:30-7:30 p.m. https://zoom.us/j/441952467
•January 7, 2020, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. https://zoom.us/j/876468258
Applications are due by January 27, 2020, at 4 p.m. via email to jenniferh@smifoundation.org or postal mail to: Grants Coordinator, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, P.O. Box 695, Owatonna, Minn. 55060
For the application and guidelines, visit smifoundation.org/childcaregrants. Contact Heidi Coulter, Early Childhood Project Manager, at heidic@smifoundation.org or (507) 214-7015 with any questions.