United Way serving Howard and Tipton Counties’ Board of Directors has announced a $15,163.73 kindergarten readiness grant to help fund the Kindergarten Transition Program, a program through Kokomo Family YMCA’s Early Learning Center.
Donations given through the Annual Fundraising Campaign, both individually and through workplace campaigns make this kindergarten readiness grant possible. Funding is available for programs that focus on preparing children birth to five years old for kindergarten, a countywide initiative known as 75in5.
“After many years of serving only adult programs in Howard County, we (Community Investment Committee) realized that in order to make the largest impact, we needed to start focusing on children,” said Betsy Hoshaw, United Way serving Howard and Tipton Counties Community Investment Committee Chair. “Children are our future. The focus of 75in5 is to get children ready for life, starting with day one of kindergarten. Preschool is the best start to a child’s life and these grants are making it more available for families in Howard County to access early learning than ever before.”
The YMCA Early Learning Center offers a high-quality learning space to encourage children to learn and develop through curriculum-based activities that work on academic and arts enrichment. The kindergarten readiness grant allows the YMCA to increase its capacity for low-income families by 20 percent while creating opportunities for more children to become kindergarten-ready.
“It’s impossible to reach a community goal if you are not doing everything you can with the resources available,” said Santos Salinas, United Way serving Howard and Tipton Counties Community Investment Committee member. “This kindergarten readiness grant allows the YMCA to add an additional 17 families to the program. By opening up these extra seats, the community is one step closer to reaching the 75in5 goal.”
