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 their trauma-informed care project, a program that serves children ages 0-5, reaching more than 150 providers and impacts an estimated 1,000+ children. 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.