Early Care and Education

Our Funding Focus

Early childhood care and education for children from birth through age 8 play a critical role in a child’s future. Yet it is one of the most under-resourced and inequitably distributed sectors in communities throughout the country, including Grand Rapids. WKKF grantmaking focuses on the early child care system and promoting access to affordable, high-quality child care.

In an examination of early care and education programs across Kent County, where Grand Rapids is located, the research found:

• In Grand Rapids, 7,239 children lack access to quality early childhood care and education programs.
• The legacy of 20th-century redlining – the practice of designating neighborhoods of color as risky for investment – persists today with residual inequity and disinvestment in Grand Rapids and adjacent suburbs.
• 59% of Kent County families who can’t access early childhood care and education services live in the cities of Grand Rapids, Wyoming and Kentwood.
• Early childhood education is both costly to provide and unaffordable for most families. Providers operate with slim margins while costs for low- and middle- income families are too high.

Read the full report authored by IFF and funded by WKKF: Split by More Than the Grand River to learn more.