The Foundation for Enhancing Communities (TFEC) is pleased to announce that Letter of Intent Guidelines are now available for a NEW grant opportunity, The Greater Harrisburg Foundation Early Childhood Strategic Initiative: Phase Two.

The mission of The Early Childhood Strategic Initiative is to explore and invest in programs that focus on Kindergarten readiness for children ages 3 to 5-years-old who are not in pre-school settings and may, for multiple reasons, have barriers to accessing those services. To carry out this mission, The Greater Harrisburg Foundation, a regional foundation of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities, created two grant opportunities; The Early Childhood Strategic Initiative: Phase One and The Early Childhood Strategic Initiative: Phase Two. Phase One consisted of grantmaking to fund pilot research to determine programmatic priorities. Phase Two is a new four year grant that will serve to connect families to early childhood services and resources by ensuring that quality early childhood services and resources exist and are accessible to children and their families, educators, and the greater community. Through these initiatives, TFEC seeks to leverage this effort to ultimately improve access to quality early learning opportunities for all children in South Central Pennsylvania.

The Early Childhood Strategic Initiative: Phase Two grant will consist of four grant awards. Those awarded grants will receive 4 years of funding: $25,000 in Year 1; $15,000 in Year 2; $10,000 in Year 3; and $5,000 in Year 4. To apply, eligible organizations must submit a Letter of Intent by April 15, 2017. Letter of Intent Guidelines are now available on the TFEC website; received letters of intent that fail to follow the provided guidelines will not be considered. Upon review of all submissions, selected applicants will be invited to complete a full application to be released June 1, 2017 with a deadline of August 1, 2017. Notification of grant awards will be made in December 2017. All grant activities must take place during the calendar years (Jan 1-Dec 31) of 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. Organizations eligible to apply will serve individuals in the central Pennsylvania counties of Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lebanon, Perry and the Dillsburg Area or Northern York County. Applicants must either be a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, or have a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization act as a fiscal sponsor for the proposed project. Click here to learn more about the new grant opportunity.

TFEC will present the findings of its Early Childhood Needs Assessment, made by Phase One of the Early Childhood Strategic Initiative, and introduce The Early Childhood Strategic Initiative: Phase Two, during a community presentation to be held from 8-10am on March 6, 2017 at the GIANT Linglestown Community Center in Harrisburg; the previously announced March 7, 2017 correlating event has been cancelled. This community presentation is open to the public and registration is recommended; click here to register.

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