“Keep the Lights On” Grant Awards
On behalf of the Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance, Executives Partnering to Invest in Children, Healthy Child Care Colorado, Mile High United Way, and The Women’s Foundation of Colorado, we are pleased to announce a total of nearly $500,000 was awarded 125 family child care homes and child care centers/school-age programs awarded grants through Keep the Lights On – a collaborative effort to provide direct financial investments to child care providers to cover COVID-19-related expenses like staff salaries, rent, cleaning supplies, health consultation, and other costs. We want to acknowledge the generous support of the Buell Foundation, Caring for Colorado Foundation, Daniels Fund, the Gates Family Foundation, Rose Community Foundation, The Women’s Foundation of Colorado, and Mile High United Way, and several other philanthropic partners and individuals who made this effort possible.
While we celebrate these providers receiving grants, we want to acknowledge the overwhelming need greatly outweighed the resources available; therefore, very difficult decisions were made. Almost 500 applications were submitted totaling over $3 million in requests. Unfortunately, several deserving programs with highly competitive applications were declined. Grant reviewers and partners utilized the following criteria to further prioritize the following high-scoring programs:
- High percentage of high-needs children served;
- Communities with a lack of access to licensed child care; and
- Geographic distribution between urban, rural, and frontier regions.
Child care centers/school-age programs were eligible for up to $12,000 each, depending on licensed capacity; family child care homes were eligible for up to $2,500.
Please join us in celebrating the following child care providers. Click the button below for the full list:
This financial investment directly in child care programs follows an unprecedented collaboration with the partners listed above, in addition to the Colorado Department of Human Services and Gary Community Investments, to distribute cleaning supplies to 1,200 providers statewide. Every program is taking unprecedented steps to “keep the lights on” and we stand in awe of your commitment to our state’s youngest learners.