Local Early Childhood Education Providers Receive Come Back Stronger Grant

The grants reinforce Indiana’s supply of high-quality early learning opportunities

Photo courtesy Early Learning Indiana.

(Indianapolis, Ind.) – More than 100 of Indiana’s early childhood education providers are receiving funding in wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Early Learning Indiana announced Friday its fourth round of grant recipients in the $15 million Come Back Stronger Fund.

Over $1.4 million in grant funding was awarded this round to help stabilize state’s child care system. The funding is made possible by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., to reinforce Indiana’s supply of high-quality early learning opportunities.

“The pandemic has shone a light on the critical role early care and education providers play in our society,” said Early Learning Indiana President and CEO Maureen Weber. “It’s estimated that nearly one-third of our state’s child care providers made the difficult decision to close their doors when the pandemic first hit. Now as many of them re-open to serve families who need quality care in order to go back to work, safety is of utmost importance. We’re excited to see how providers use their grants to increase health and safety measures and expand to serve more families who need care.”

Locally, the following childcare providers have been awarded grants from the Come Back Stronger Fund:

• All 4 Kids LLC, Brookville
• Barrel of Monkeys Childcare, Aurora
• Kinderland, Batesville
• Little Red Academy, Greendale
• Luvs-N-Hugs Daycare LLC, Batesville
• Sunshine Corner Daycare and Preschool, Lawrenceburg
• Sunshine Corner Too, Greendale

These providers are among 557 total providers statewide receiving grants totaling over $7.6 million. Grant awards are varying amounts up to $40,000 based on enrollment and the percentage of children served who receive federal Child Care and Development Fund or On My Way Pre-K assistance from the state of Indiana.

Applications are being reviewed and awarded on a rolling basis until the $15 million fund is depleted.

See a full list of grant recipients at https://earlylearningin.org/comebackstronger/#CBSF-map.