San Diego CA— The San Diego Foundation today announced the availability of $1 million in Early Childhood Initiative Resilience grants to increase access to quality, affordable early childhood education and developmental care in San Diego County.
The San Diego Foundation Early Childhood Initiative Resilience grants will prioritize nonprofit projects that increase cross-sector collaboration, as well as promote sustainable change and innovation within the San Diego County childcare system, especially given the current and long-term challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“San Diego County is facing one of the greatest health and economic crises due to COVID-19 and investment in early childhood is a critical component of our region’s recovery,” expressed Mark Stuart, President & CEO at The San Diego Foundation. “The San Diego Foundation is dedicated to increasing access to affordable, quality early care for children in San Diego, strengthening families and supporting our regional workforce – now and for the future.”
According to research from San Diego Workforce Partnership and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, early childhood care and education is essential to the health, development and success of San Diegans and the regional economy, yet child care options are scare, inconvenient, unaffordable and of varying quality in the region. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, these challenges have been magnified, particularly for low-income communities across San Diego County.
Throughout the crisis, The San Diego Foundation has been working with existing nonprofit, community and government partners to strengthen the region’s early care network and rapid response to support essential workers and San Diego families experiencing financial hardship. Now, as San Diego looks toward economic recovery and reopening safely, The San Diego Foundation is collaborating with community partners to expand access to critical care through its Early Childhood Initiative.
The Early Childhood Initiative is supported by the Guy Clum Early Childhood Education and Development Fund at The San Diego Foundation and builds upon a regional vision that supports both immediate impact initiatives and systems-level change in early education.
For more information about the Early Childhood Initiative, or to apply for one of the available grants, visit www.sdfoundation.org/ECIgrants. The deadline to apply is July 17 at 5:00pm PT.