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Little kids playing with toys in a classroom
November 28, 2022

BBF Announces Recipients of 2023 Vermont Early Childhood Fund Grants

Building Bright Futures is excited to announce the recipients of our Vermont Early Childhood Fund (VECF) awards for 2023. 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. The 2023 VECF grantees will carry out the following projects: Develop a culturally-tailored […]

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Blog

September 22, 2022

VECF Spotlight: An anti-racist initiative forging new connections in Burlington

The Vermont Early Childhood Fund is a Building Bright Futures (BBF) initiative to support creative solutions that will improve the well-being of children (prenatal–age 8), their families, and the Vermont communities in which they live. Eligible projects address one or more of the regional priorities identified annually by the BBF Regional Early Childhood Council and […]

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Smiling young child and parent with text "YOU ARE ENOUGH"
July 18, 2022

Planting seeds of hope for recovery from substance use disorder

“Giving people unconditional love each time they fall is so important. Feeling seen at your worst and at your best is so important. Meeting people where they’re at, no matter where they’re at…Just being there for them is just so important.” —Chip, a Vermont parent in recovery who recently spoke on a panel about substance […]

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Blog

January 19, 2022

BBF Awards $100,000 in Vermont Early Childhood Fund Grants

Building Bright Futures Regional Councils awards $100,000 in Vermont Early Childhood Fund grants to improve the well-being of children, families and communities Building Bright Futures (BBF) announced seven recipients of grants from the Vermont Early Childhood Fund (VECF). Grantees will work with BBF Regional Councils to improve the well-being of children (prenatal–age 8) and families, […]

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Blog

October 8, 2021

BBF Launches the Vermont Early Childhood Fund with $100K to Communities

Building Bright Futures is pleased to announce the creation of the Vermont Early Childhood Fund (VECF) providing grants of $10,000-$20,000 for up to 7 grantees to support creative solutions that will improve the well-being of children (prenatal-age 8), families, as well as the Vermont communities in which they live.  Each year BBF Regional Councils, the […]

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Blog

October 6, 2020

Restorative Practices in Early Education

When students feel connected to their schools, peers, and teachers, they build trust and we know that supportive relationships are a key protective factor for young children. The Restorative Practices Framework provides tools for teachers to help foster a sense of connectedness in their classroom through mindful awareness opportunities. Restorative Practice Circles are a place […]

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Blog

July 24, 2020

Chittenden Regional Project Highlight: Substance Use Disorder (SUD) – Making the Systems Work for Families

Overview The SUD – Making the Systems Work for Families Project is embedded in the BBF statewide network. To describe this network briefly, BBF has 12 regions throughout Vermont that align with the Agency of Human Services districts. Each regional early childhood council, supported by one of BBF’s Regional Council Coordinators, brings together community members […]

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Blog

February 12, 2020

Resilience and Grit: A Father’s Story

The Chittenden Regional Council is committed to honoring and valuing the voices of families that live in our community, and we hold those voices up each and every time we work together towards our common goals. Whether or not families are at our physical meeting tables, their seat is arguably the most important, and their perspectives are critical […]

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News

January 30, 2020

Chittenden Regional Recap, January 2020

Bright Spots: In partnership with Champlain Valley Head Start, our Substance Use Disorder Families Collective Impact project is moving forward with the implementation of a new parenting curriculum from the Devereux Center for Resilient Children called, Your Journey Together (YJT).YJT shows parents how to use ordinary, everyday routines, activities and interactions as resilience-building opportunity through […]

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News

November 27, 2019

Chittenden Regional Recap, November 2019

Bright Spots: Chittenden’s BBF Regional Council continues to support our community by offering additional Early MTSS trainings in Module 2 and 3 this winter. The turnout and provider engagement from the EMTSS trainings earlier this fall was overwhelmingly supportive, which speaks to the need and value of this framework. Holding these trainings aligns with our […]

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Blog

October 29, 2019

Supporting Families and Teachers as they Teach Emotional Processing

The Chittenden Regional Council’s Action Plan includes the following strategy, “Children’s social and emotional needs are met.” While the language used here is simple, the action steps and research involved in doing this right is quite complex. How do we ensure that a child’s emotional needs are being met, so that they are able to […]

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Regional Council Recap

September 20, 2019

Chittenden Recap, September 2019

Chittenden’s BBF Regional Council is moving forward with our strategy to provide early care and learning professionals and service providers with Early Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) trainings in our region. In partnership with Help Me Grow, we used grant funds to hold two successful trainings in August, where about 50 professionals were trained in […]

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