Focus Area: Early Childhood

Grant Amount: $11,500

Based in Minneapolis, serves statewide. Launched in 1994 as the Minnesota Commission on National and Community service, ServeMinnesota oversees Minnesota’s AmeriCorps programs and is involved in several initiatives focused on closing the achievement gap in Minneapolis and St. Paul. ServeMN was the first in the nation to develop the Reading Corps program, which has since expanded to 13 other states.

Grant supports expanding support for children birth to 5 in the Family Child Care Reading Corps initiative. This program provides high-quality Pre-K education and literacy- and math-rich learning environments to young children; it builds capacity in family childcare settings, which often don’t have access to literacy learning opportunities. Few resources exist for family childcare providers to improve the quality of their services. ServeMN will offer this option to programs in highly stressed neighborhoods in Minneapolis and St. Paul.