Building Bright Futures is excited to announce the recipients of our Vermont Early Childhood Fund (VECF) awards for 2024! The fund supports creative solutions that will improve the well-being of children (prenatal–age 8), families, and the Vermont communities in which they live.
Thanks to these grants, awardees in every region of Vermont will be able to pursue important and innovative projects, including:
- Creating over 200 child care slots across multiple counties
- Expanding access to pre-K and school services through transportation
- Supporting positive parent-child interactions and resource navigation
- Expanding early childhood education workforce recruitment and training
- Reducing waitlists for developmental and autism spectrum disorder assessments
- Increasing access to mental health services, training, and coaching
The Innovation Grant ($150,000 to $200,000) has the goal of creating innovative, replicable solutions to address some of Vermont’s most persistent barriers to serving children and families. The Innovation Grant recipients are:
- The Janet S. Munt Family Room in Chittenden County
- Northwestern Medical Center in Franklin County
The Opportunity Grant ($10,000 to $80,000) has the goal of supporting easy-to-achieve solutions with direct results. The Opportunity Grant recipients are:
- ABC & LOL Preschool & Child Care Center in Caledonia County
- Alburgh Family Clubhouse in Grand Isle County
- Cabot Community Association – The Cabot Children’s Center in Washington County
- ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain in Chittenden County
- Grow Family and Prenatal Center in Chittenden County
- Hartford Area Career and Technology Center in Windsor County
- Kid Logic Learning in Chittenden County
- Lund in Chittenden County
- Middlebury Community Music Center in Addison County
- Mount Mansfield Unified Union School District in Chittenden County
- Northshire Day School in Bennington County
- Oak Hill Children’s Center in Bennington County
- Orange County Parent Child Center in Orange County
- Rutland Mental Health Services in Rutland County
- Stay & Play Daycare Center in Caledonia County
- Vital Partnerships in Windham County
- Wonder in the Woods in Windham County
VECF was established in 2021 thanks to a generous grant from a private donor and is now funded by the Vermont Integration Project: Building Integration in Vermont’s Birth–5 Early Childhood Systems (VIP B–5) Preschool Development Grant. This is a $23 million federal grant to strengthen the state’s early childhood system. The VECF expanded its funding tenfold this year, from $105,000 for projects carried out in 2023 to $1.2 million for this round of projects. Expanded funding is slated to continue in 2024 and 2025, with two funding cycles each year for a total of $6 million over three years. The grant period runs from Feb. 1 through Dec. 30, 2024. BBF will begin accepting applications for the next round of funding in February 2024.
