2024 Impact

Here we go again! The community reinforced its support of our youngest children in 2024, renewing the Ready by Five Early Childhood Millage that was first approved in 2018. This historic millage for Kent County (and the state of Michigan!) passed with a total overall “yes” vote of more than 59 percent. Six additional years of dedicated and sustained funding for early childhood in Kent County means a stronger system with better outcomes for children and families. The excitement surrounding the millage renewal was significant with supporters from all over Kent County advocating, rallying the community, and voting!

Over the past year, the community has also come together in new ways to address longstanding barriers in access to affordable, quality child care. First Steps Kent is the early childhood content expert for both the Kent County Child Care Task Force and the City of Grand Rapids through a National League of Cities technical assistance grant. Those public-private partnerships are an opportunity to create meaningful, lasting improvements to the child care system—which is critical to our local economy. Through conversations within the business community, we’ve recognized how much we need one another and how child care is already embedded within local strategic plans.

First Steps Kent received significant donor commitments in 2024, from: W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Wege Foundation, BCBSM Foundation, Keller Foundation, Baker Family Foundation, Steelcase Foundation, Children’s Funding Project, Doug & Maria DeVos Foundation, Early Childhood Investment Corporation, KRW Foundation, and Frey Foundation. These valued partnerships ensure our community realizes our vision that children are born healthy, developmentally on track, and school ready.

As an organization, we’re honored by the commitment from voters, philanthropy, and our partners in both the public and private sectors. We are focused on effective and efficient operations as well as authentic collaboration. In 2025, that means better alignment of our teams, goals, and connections with families and the greater early childhood ecosystem. Each aspect of First Steps Kent informs child progress but economic progress as well.

What will the next six years hold? There is no crystal ball, but history and research have proven that early childhood investment works. Kids that are ready early remain ready. And communities committed to child readiness reap the benefits of their investments for years to come.

Warm regards, Jennifer Headley-Nordman