Focus Area: Early Childhood

Grant Amount: $12,500

Located in St. Paul. HQBC was founded in 1929 in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul to connect members of the African American community to resources they were otherwise denied access to due to segregation. After the forced dispersal of the Rondo community due to the construction of I-94, HQBC worked with the city of St. Paul to construct the Martin Luther King Center where the Early Learning Center (ELC) is located. In 2021, HQBC earned its 4-Star Parent Aware rating.

Grant supports expanding HQB’s at-home learning program to include instruction and support of parents. This is to provide continuity of daily academic activities and exercises to prevent disruption of learning when a child is forced to stay home or a classroom is shut down because of Covid. The Creative Curriculum, used in the classrooms, will be delivered to parents, then parents will schedule online office hours with classroom teachers for instruction in how to use the materials.