W.K. Kellogg Foundation Awards First Steps $400,000
Grand Rapids, Mich.-First Steps today announced the W.K. Kellogg Foundation is making a significant investment in Kent County’s youngest children. The Battle Creek-based foundation is committing $400,000 to help build a comprehensive and coordinated network of support services for young children and their families.
“We are very grateful for this investment in Kent County’s future” said Ben Emdin, executive director of First Steps. “This investment from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, coupled with the tremendous support from our community partners, will help ensure all of our children have the opportunity to reach their full potential.”
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation joins the Heart of West Michigan United Way, Steelcase Foundation, Frey Foundation and Early Childhood Investment Corporation in supporting the development of an early childhood system in Kent County.
First Steps is a community partnership focusing on the earliest years of a child’s life-prenatal to age 5. There are four main goals:
- give families the tools they need to provide opportunities for their children
- help all children access quality healthcare
- improve the early learning opportunities that build healthy brains
- make children and their families an urgent community priority
First Steps is developing several demonstration projects designed to meet those goals. They include some new services for families as well as better coordination of and access to existing programs. It’s a universal and voluntary system designed to reach all young families in Kent County.
The first demonstration project, the Children’s Healthcare Access Program, began in August and is helping ensure thousands of low-income children in Kent County have access to quality primary and preventive care. A second project is scheduled to begin later this winter and is designed to strengthen the early care and education system in Kent County by improving the skills of child care providers.
Compelling research suggests investment in early childhood development has a profound impact on both the individual and the community. Children’s brains develop more by their third birthday than during any other time in their life. This is the time when they learn how to think, solve problems, cope with stress, be creative and communicate. Much has been learned over the last decade about how the architecture of a child’s brain is formed. Genes provide the blueprint for the brain, but early relationships and experiences guide how the brain is built.
There is strong evidence that a community investment in young children will strengthen the future prosperity of Kent County. It can lead to higher graduation rates, lower special education costs, a better-trained workforce, a reduction in crime and a reduced dependency on welfare. A RAND Corporation study found communities that invest in young children receive an economic return of between $1.26 and $17.07 for every $1, depending on the type of program.
For more information, contact:
Amy Turner-Thole, Communications Director
616-632-1011
aturner-thole@waybetterunitedway.org
First Steps is a partnership of parents, community agencies, business leaders, healthcare providers, educators, foundations, faith leaders and individuals who are investing in our youngest children to ensure a better future for all. The vision of First Steps is that every young child in Kent County will be ready to succeed in school and in life. The inaugural funders for First Steps are the Frey Foundation, Steelcase Foundation, Heart of West Michigan United Way and Early Childhood Investment Corporation. To learn more, please visit www.firststepskent.org.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930. The organization supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and southern Africa. For further information, please visit the Foundation’s website at www.wkkf.org.