Focus Area: Early Childhood

Grant Amount: $12,000

Based in Duluth, serves northeastern Minnesota. Northland is the Minnesota Initiative Fund serving the northeast corner of the state – it is a funder but also runs its own programs. Northland launched the Parent Aware Pathways Initiative to increase the number of Parent-Aware-rated childcare providers serving the counties of Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, and St. Louis.

Grant supports building on the work of the Comprehensive Young Children and Families Mental Health Education Program. This program increases access across the region to high-quality trainings that support the healthy social-emotional health of young children, using a trauma-informed, healing-centered lens. It also helps develop community networks to support early childhood mental health, including supports for family, friend, and neighbor providers.