'We are going to need continuous support': 6 hometown organizations receive life-changing federal dollars

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Six hometown organizations focused on early childhood development are on the receiving end of life-changing federal dollars.

At The Community Advocates building in downtown Milwaukee, six hometown organizations each received more than $100,000 in grant funding to further their mission of early childhood development both in Milwaukee and across the Badger State, Thursday, April 18.

"We are just really excited to be one of the six organization that were funded," said Javier Acevedo, chief development officer and managing director of operations, Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce.

The money granted to the six organizations will help expand already-existing services, from educating first-time parents to building better social, mental, and emotional health for children across Milwaukee.

"We all agree that early childhood support is key to the health and the well-being of Milwaukee County, and not just our young people but for many of our families as well," said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.

The grant would also help implement new child care opportunities in Milwaukee County.

"There's so many families throughout the state, with a pressing need- foster parents, families with children who struggle with finding accessible child care- not just accessible child care, but culturally competent, and culturally specific child care for their kids," said Acevedo.

Through a competitive application process, the six organizations created projects and services, looking to improve on early childhood development.

The grant funded by the Federal American Rescue Plan Act totals $800,000.

"This means more quality child care services, not just for our families and the people we serve, but also for the professionals that are actually out in the work, doing the work," said Acevedo.

Acevedo went on to say while the money is great today, there is still work to be done tomorrow.

"We are going to need continuous support from local, state, and federal, to really continue to enhance opportunities like this for our families throughout the state."

A full list of grant winners can be found bellow:

• Jewish Family Services (JFS) – This project will expand services to develop two levels of classroom interventions. Tier 1 is for the whole classroom and providing wellness-based, psychoeducational services that promote social emotional learning, and Tier 2 will be small group which will teach kids to identify and regulate intense emotions, find focus, and build relationships using interactive and expressive activities. JFS will model these interventions so that each participating teacher will have the tools to continue the interventions.

• The Parenting Network – This project will implement a new initiative, Triple P for Baby, designed to prepare first time parents for a positive transition into parenthood and their baby’s first year. This program will increase communication and relationship skills, increase social support and resource awareness, and increase father involvement, positive parenting practices and parent-child relationship quality.

• Penfield Children’s Center – This project will increase the Early Education & Care Teacher’s understanding of the foundations of neurodevelopment and enhance knowledge of strategies that support social and emotional well-being, along with developing tools to empower families and caregivers to extend work into the home and other environments. The intention is to create a positive ripple effect throughout the Early Education & Care program, fostering a culture of emotional intelligence and resilience that benefits teachers, children, parents and caregivers.

• United Community Center – This project will create a sustainable model of whole childcare and family support that will enhance home/school continuity, and thus, the Building Resilience Initiative’s overall long-term positive impacts. This will be done through a new parent education class with Positive Solutions for Families curriculum, as well as increasing parent and staff access to 1:1 mental health counseling.

• Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health – This project will aim to build and sustain a culturally responsive and holistic Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation system that supports the mental, social, and emotional health of infants and young children in the context of their primary relationships. Supporting consultants to build and increase their skills through the Community of Practice and Reflective Supervision to provide support to early childhood providers in child/family, classroom/home, programmatic and community levels.

• Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce – This project will create 15 new childcare centers with an anticipated 100 new childcare slots within targeted regions of Milwaukee County to address the specific needs of the Latino community. Additionally, it will foster entrepreneurship and economic empowerment within the Latino demographic, thereby contributing to socio-economic advancement and community development. This will be done through a strong mentorship and training cohort model.