For Immediate Release –The Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC), a statewide organization serving all 83 counties in Michigan, proudly announces nearly $160,000 in funding for 16 communities as part of the Think Babies Michigan initiative, made possible by a generous investment from The MolinaCares Accord (“MolinaCares”), in collaboration with Molina Healthcare of Michigan, and the Pritzker Children’s Initiative.
Through this initiative, ECIC is awarding grants up to $10,000 to community organizations and parent-led initiatives t
o pilot and test outreach and navigation efforts that focus on helping pregnant women and families with children under the age of 3 navigate and enroll in services like child care, home visiting, Medicaid, Head Start, and Early On.
“MolinaCares is dedicated to improving the lives and well-being of people across Michigan” said Christine Surdock, plan president of Molina Healthcare of Michigan. “Our partnership with ECIC further strengthens our efforts to address health disparities among those in our communities through whole-person and whole-family care.”
The 16 grant recipients include:
- ACCESS (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services)
- Chaldean Community Foundation
- Clare-Gladwin Great Start Collaborative
- Delta Schoolcraft Growing Families Home Visiting
- Generations Ahead
- Gratiot-Isabella Great Start Collaborative
- Grow Benzie
- Help Me Grow Macomb
- Huron Intermediate School District
- Keweenaw Family Resource Center
- Lapeer County Community Foundation
- Learn Lactate Grow
- Miigwech Inc.
- MomsBloom
- Voices for Children Advocacy Center
- Washtenaw Success by 6 Great Start Collaborative
“We are incredibly thankful to The MolinaCares Accord and the Pritzker Children’s Initiative for this strategic partnership focused on the first three years of a child’s life,” says Alicia Guevara Warren, Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy at ECIC. “At a time when the need for child care and other early childhood services is high, we are grateful for the parent leaders who collaborated with us to select promising community projects to reach and connect families with critical programs to help them thrive.”
The grantees will work with parent leaders from across the state to improve their projects in real time and their learnings will contribute to a report with policy recommendations to strengthen how families learn about and access early childhood programs and services.
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About the Early Childhood Investment Corporation
Created in 2005 to be a statewide leader in early childhood, the Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC) collaborates to increase public and private investment in the earliest years, to elevate issues affecting young children and their families, and continuously improve Michigan’s comprehensive early childhood system, ensuring every child has the opportunity to succeed in school and in life. ECIC envisions a future where all young children and their families in Michigan thrive. In order to make this vision a reality, we work to ensure: Race, culture and community are celebrated assets in a young child’s life; Our work is informed by research and driven by the voices of diverse populations to achieve equitable outcomes for all children; and collaboration is central to our work, and we strive to co-create knowledge and innovation for the field. To learn more about ECIC, please visit ecic4kids.org.
About The MolinaCares Accord
Established by Molina Healthcare, Inc., The MolinaCares Accord oversees a community investment platform created to improve the health and well-being of disadvantaged populations by funding meaningful, measurable, and innovative programs and solutions that improve health, life, and living in local communities. The MolinaCares Accord funds such measures through The Molina Healthcare Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)(3) established in 2020 by Molina Healthcare, Inc.
About Think Babies Michigan
Think Babies Michigan is a collaborative of nearly 2,000 members — leaders, experts, families, organizations and providers — working together to improve the lives of babies prenatal to three years old and, therefore, the well-being of our state as a whole. Together, this collaborative combines resources to help support these growing minds and their families. Michigan is among 20 states to receive this multi-year grant made possible by the Pritzker Children’s Initiative, an initiative of the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation. ECIC is honored to serve as the project lead for this collaborative, statewide initiative. To learn more, please visit https://www.ecic4kids.org/policy-thinkbabiesmi/.