BBF is excited to announce additional recipients of Vermont Early Childhood Fund (VECF) grants. VECF funds support creative solutions that will improve the well-being of children from the prenatal period through age 8, their families, and the Vermont communities in which they live.
VECF Access Grants are funded through the Sunflower Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation and other private contributions. The team of early childhood experts at Building Bright Futures makes awards periodically as funding is available.
The 2024 Access Grant recipients are:
Vermont Connector Baby Product Exchange
The State of Vermont’s Children: 2023 Year in Review notes that 28.5% of Vermont’s families with children under 12 live below 185% of the federal poverty level, a common guideline for eligibility for federal poverty programs. The result is that many families are unable to meet their basic needs, let alone purchase expensive baby supplies such as diapers or equipment. Furthermore, no state/federal public assistance programs (such as WIC, 3 Squares, Medicare, Medicaid) offer financial assistance to purchase these items. This limited purchasing power affects the long-term physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and caregivers alike.
In June 2022, Vermont Connector launched the Baby Product Exchange to support low-income families by redistributing diapering supplies and gently used, durable baby equipment. Through partnerships with 55 social service and mutual aid organizations across Vermont, the Exchange is able to distribute items to those who need them. Since its launch, the Baby Product Exchange has collected 1,106 pieces of baby equipment, with an 88% redistribution rate. Additionally, the Exchange has distributed more than 80,000 diapers, 79,376 wipes, and 200 tins of formula to the New North End Food Pantry (a no-barrier food shelf that has served 25,000 total clients). They have also delivered 100,000 diapers to communities affected by flooding.
Working only with volunteer coordination, volunteer labor, donated warehouse space, and donated materials, the Exchange has achieved significant gains. Funding through VECF will help expand organizational capacity and develop more efficient systems.
Vermont Language Justice Project, a project of CCTV
There are more than 7,700 residents of Vermont who speak English less than “very well,” according to the 2022 US Census. Many are refugees, immigrants, and migrants. These populations are new to understanding and navigating child care, child service systems, and associated financial assistance programs.
Vermont Language Justice Project (VLJP) will create and disseminate four video messages in 18 languages to educate Vermonters with language access needs about child care programs and financial assistance. Content will be developed in close coordination with subject matter experts. The videos will be in the primary languages spoken in Vermont by refugees, im/migrants, and asylees/asylum seekers: Arabic, ASL, Burmese, Dari, English (with open captions for hard-of-hearing viewers), French, Haitian Kreyol, Kirundi, Maay Maay, Mandarin, Nepali, Pashto, Spanish, Somali, Swahili, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. Once these videos are produced, they will be distributed through VLJP’s established grassroots networks via WhatsApp, WeChat, and other social media channels with the help of more than 100 community partners.
