PDG Newsletter December 14, 2022 Applications Opening Soon – Dream Up! Grant Program: Cohort 3 The Dream Up! Child Care Supply-Building grant program, a part of Project Growth, will open for another round of applications soon. Through this program, awarded communities will receive strategic planning support from our partner, First Children’s Finance (FCF), along with $75,000 in grant funding. Additional $5,000 stipends will be allocated to local, participating child care providers who complete free training and submit updated business plans during the strategic planning process. Through a collaborative community approach, teams of community stakeholders, will work to evaluate, plan, sustain, and expand existing child care, and support new child care programs. The first two cohorts of Dream Up! awardees were announced last spring. Who should apply? Applications should be submitted by a team of invested community members. Teams are encouraged to include a cross-sector of professionals. Team representatives may include (but are not limited to): Local business leaders Community and civic organizations Economic development programs Child care programs School districts Local government City or county administrations You can also view more information in our Dream Up! Informational Chart and rural and urban community scenarios on the Dream Up! webpage. The competitive applications period will run February 20 – March 17, 2023 at 5 p.m. CST. We encourage interested parties to review all materials on the Dream Up! webpage, start thinking about who your core team might be composed of, and start gathering data. Subscribe to receive Project Growth emails for more updates. Innovative Communities Around Wisconsin Recently, DCF launched a new form to collect examples of communities innovating to solve the child care crisis in Wisconsin. We’ve already received some great responses and have added them to our new Innovative Communities Around Wisconsin webpage for others to read about. We’ve recently added a new submission of an up-and-coming 24/7 child care center offering full-time, part-time, and occasional care to meet the direct needs of each family. Does your community have their own solutions to share? Submit them through our innovative communities form and you may see them featured too.
