First Children's Financeblue heart icon with two hands in it

DCF is working with First Children’s Finance to administer the Project Growth: Dream Up! grant program. The Dream Up! grants focus on sustaining existing child care and expanding it in areas where there is need through a community approach. Learn more about Dream Up!

First Children’s Finance will engage with up to 37 communities throughout Wisconsin to address their child care gaps and help them progress to a sustainable supply of child care. This project of strategic supply and capacity building on a community level, along with evaluation, monitoring and reporting, will consist of five main activities:

  1. Design a competitive process for selecting 30 communities for strategic supply building consultation
  2. Consult on community strategic supply building efforts
  3. Disseminate community implementation grants
  4. Guide development of business improvement plans, cohort learning opportunities, and stipends for providers
  5. Manage the Dream Up! grant program

First Children’s Finance is a national nonprofit organization that provides loans and business development assistance to child care businesses serving low- and moderate-income families. They address the business and finance needs of child care in three different ways: building the financial sustainability of child care entrepreneurs, partnering with communities to preserve and grow their child care supply, and influencing state and federal systems to provide supports and investments needed to sustain child care businesses. Learn more about First Children’s Finance.

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