W.K. Kellogg Foundation Renews Support of First Steps
First Steps today announced that the W.K. Kellogg Foundation is making a significant investment in Kent County’s youngest children. The Battle Creek-based foundation is committing $1.3 million over the next three years to two programs that support the health and development of children across the community: the Children’s Healthcare Access Program and Welcome Home Baby.
“We are very grateful to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for this tremendous investment in Kent County’s future,” said Rebekah Fennell, Executive Director, First Steps. “These programs are critical to our efforts to ensure that every young child has the opportunity to reach his or her full potential.”
First Steps is leading a community collaboration to develop a system of support services for young children and their families in Kent County. The Children’s Healthcare Access Program and Welcome Home Baby are important components of that system.
The Children’s Healthcare Access Program is a community-based medical home project that is connecting low-income children to quality primary healthcare. The goal is to improve health outcomes among children on Medicaid while better utilizing existing resources and decreasing costs. The program began in August 2008, and the early results show that it is working. Visits to the emergency department and inpatient hospital admissions decreased significantly in the first year of the program.
Welcome Home Baby is a family support program that will become a primary gateway to Kent County’s Early Childhood System by connecting with parents in the earliest days of their baby’s life. All first-time parents and parents younger than 25 will be offered a visit in their home from a maternal child nurse. The nurse will be able to answer questions about everything from how to feed a baby to where to look for quality child care. He or she will educate parents about early childhood development and the importance of talking, reading, and playing with their child from infancy. Families will be offered a menu of community services, and the nurse will help them access the resources that best meet their needs. A phased implementation of Welcome Home Baby is scheduled to begin this summer.
This investment in Kent County’s children and families is part of a larger commitment that the W.K. Kellogg Foundation is making to the Grand Rapids community.
“The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is committed to creating the conditions that ensure vulnerable children are propelled forward. We understand the importance of quality health care and access in reaching our mission,” said Nadia Brigham, Program Officer with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “First Steps offers promising practices that will not only meet the individual child and family needs but also influence systemic change for the care for vulnerable children. We are particularly interested in seeing how the work of First Steps impacts the county as well as core neighborhoods in Grand Rapids.”
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation joins the Heart of West Michigan United Way, Steelcase Foundation, Frey Foundation, Douglas & Maria DeVos Foundation, Mike & Sue Jandernoa, and the Early Childhood Investment Corporation in supporting the development of Kent County’s early childhood system.
Compelling research documents that an investment in early childhood development has a profound impact on both the individual and the community. It leads to higher graduation rates, lower special education costs, a better-trained workforce, a reduction in crime, and a reduced dependency on welfare.