Focus Area: Early Childhood

Grant Amount: $15,000

Based in St. Paul, serves statewide. Begun in 1865, LSS is one of Minnesota’s largest nonprofit social service organizations, providing a comprehensive range of innovative services in all 87 counties. It recently merged with Lifetrack (a previous SAF grantee), incorporating that agency’s programs into its offerings. One of these programs is the Families Together Therapeutic Preschool in St. Paul, serving very low-income families in the Frogtown and East Side neighborhoods.

Grant supports therapeutic interventions within the preschool. This includes classroom interventions from teachers trained in the Developmental Repair Model, in close consultation with the program’s mental health, occupational, and speech therapists. When therapies are integrated into the classroom, children can learn the skills they need in the places they need them to address their most immediate skill needs.