March 2019
Early Childhood Updates from SMIF
Welcome to March! I hope you are all surviving this endless winter and finding ways to dig through the snow.

We are so excited about all the great activities, trainings and opportunities coming up this year. Back by popular demand is the nationally-known and high-quality Conscious Discipline Training. This is the leader in brain-based social emotional learning and we are pleased to offer both an intro and advanced session this year.

We are also looking forward to a new program that recently launched. We will be working with five communities as they develop individualized action plans to address their local child care needs.

We are honored to deliver a wide variety of ongoing programs where you can learn useful ideas and effective practices from regional and national experts in the field. Keep in touch as we continue to build networks and help learn from one another.

As ever, if you have questions, concerns or creative suggestions as they relate to early childhood, please contact me at 507-214-7012 or raejeanh@smifoundation.org . 
Rae Jean Hansen 
Vice President - Early Childhood
Seeking Applications for Literacy Grant Program
SMIF's Early Childhood Literacy Grants are awarded in partnership with local publishing companies Capstone and ABDO to organizations committed to distributing books and literacy programming directly to young children in our 20-county region.

We are currently seeking applications! Due April 16, 2019.

AmeriCorps LEAP Initiative accepting applications for 2019 - 2020 service term
AmeriCorps LEAP (Learning Early Achieves Potential) members serve in preschool classrooms and nonprofit organizations focused on the social and emotional development of young children in our 20-county region. SMIF is currently accepting applications for the 2019-2020 term.

Child Care Shortage Grants Awarded
SMIF has selected five communities to participate in a new program called Communities Addressing the Child Care Shortage. Each community will work with SMIF for 6 to 18 months to develop individualized action plans to address local child care needs.

Early Childhood Grants Awarded
SMIF recently approved seven grants totaling $120,490 to support asset-based collaborative approaches to meeting the needs of children birth to age five and their families.

Upcoming Events
Spring Quality Child
Care Trainings

April 9: New Ulm
April 16: Byron

Join us to learn more about business practices, professional development and Parent Aware in your community.

2-hour DEVELOP-approved training for family child care providers.

Conscious Discipline Returns!

Level 1 (Intro): June 26 - 27
Level 2 (Advanced): July 24 - 25
Owatonna High School

Back by popular demand, we will be hosting TWO Conscious Discipline sessions this summer.

Watch the video to see how this course has impacted regional early childhood educators.
Save the Date! SMIF's Early Childhood Care Conference
October 25 -26
Owatonna

We are looking forward to hosting the fifth annual Early Childhood Care Conference this October. Attended by nearly 400 people, this conference is an opportunity to make sure our region's child care providers and other early childhood professionals are getting the tools they need to provide quality care. Look for more details soon!
NEW Regional Sprout! Events
This spring we will be holding new events in the four corners of our region. These Sprout! events are a great opportunity to connect with others from the region, hear stories from people who have received grants, loans, or other programming, and to discover the many resources that we have to offer you and your community (and "sprout" new ideas!).

All events are an open house from 4:30-6:30 p.m. with a short program at 5:15 highlighting our partners. This event is free and everyone is welcome, both new friends and old. Light hors d'oeuvres will be served. Join us at the date and location that works for you!
April 23 - Cannon Falls, Cannon River Winery
April 25 - Spring Valley, Four Daughters Vineyard & Winery
April 30 - Kasota, Chankaska Creek Ranch & Winery
May 2 - Fairmont, Red Rock Center for the Arts
Support Southern Minnesota's Future
Imagine vibrant communities where entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses, children are prepared for their future and communities build the resources and networks needed to sustain their quality of life.

SMIF is embarking on a three-year Love Where You Live campaign to strengthen our region’s future. Won’t you join us in creating vibrant communities where more than 581,000 people call home?
Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation | 507-455-3215 | www.smifoundation.org