Written by Kelsey Harrington—
MUNCIE, Ind. – The success of a community’s education system and place of employment depends in large part on the success and health of the community’s early care and education ecosystem. The main reason is that about 90% of brain development is completed by the time she is 5 years old. The state of early care and education locally, and across the state and country, has been a concern for many years, especially in this post-pandemic era. More than 70 providers in Muncie and Delaware counties came together late last month to launch the Changemakers Movement, a collective impact approach to create positive change for our community's youngest learners and their educators .
Many providers, whether licensed centers, child care facilities, or ministries, struggle to offer competitive wages and comprehensive benefits to qualified staff. They, too, regularly deal with challenges related to complex licensing, complex voucher programs, inadequate financial support for middle-class families, and the resources needed for children with special needs. Masu.
Disparate data collection and analysis makes it difficult to bring about systemic changes in early care and education. No single provider or early childhood stakeholder can make this change alone. In late 2023, a small group of local providers began meeting to discuss future paths for cooperation. The group includes leaders from United Day Care, Muncie Community School Pre-K, Huffer Memorial Children's Center and Kaleidoscope Kids.
Early care and education providers from across Delaware County are coming together to launch the Changemakers Movement.Photo courtesy of Maggie Manor.
Together with early childhood education consultant Muncie BY5 and the George and Frances Ball Foundation's Cradle to Career Muncie backbone team, they recruited and convened the first gathering of changemakers. The movement aims to mobilize early care and education providers and other key stakeholders to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current state of the early childhood ecosystem in Muncie and Delaware counties.
After the initial event, a survey co-developed by local health care providers and industry experts will be administered to as many early care and education providers in Delaware County as possible. If you are a provider interested in joining the Changemakers movement, please email admin@gfballfdn.org.
“We are in this together. We are gathering the evidence and data we need to make change. We need your voice every step of the way,” says Muncie Community School Pre-K Change. said Erin Bousman, president of the Makers Steering Committee.
regarding George and Frances Ball Foundation
George and Frances Ball Foundation, founded in 1937 We are strongly committed to the needs of East Central Indiana and organized for the sole purpose of promoting charitable, scientific, and educational causes. The Foundation adopted an active grantmaking strategy in 2018; focused on education We continued the legacy of George and Frances Ball with our commitment to improving educational attainment through our community's Cradle to Career Initiative. You can know more About Foundation or Cradle to Career MunciePlease come www.gfballfdn.org Or find the George and Frances Ball Foundation page on Facebook.
