SAVE THE DATE

January 4 & 18 at 4:30 PM: Bay-Arenac Great Start Family Network @ Arenac Community Center, Standish

Learn more: FAMILY NETWORK

January 5, 12, 19 & 26 at 10 AM: MotherBaby Cafe @ Bay City Town Center, Bay City

Learn more: MOTHERBABY CAFE

COMMUNITY RESOURCES 

At Home Learning

NEMSCA Early Head Start

Early Head Start (Pregnancy to Age 3)

Early Head Start serves pregnant women and children birth to three years old and their families. The program provides intensive and comprehensive child development and early education services including health, nutrition, and family support services. Early Head Start seeks to provide the foundations for school readiness by fostering developmental competence during the earliest years of childhood. Services are delivered through a home visitation model with a weekly home visit and monthly socialization opportunities. The program is free to families who meet federal poverty guidelines or other risk factors and reserves ten percent of total enrollments for inclusion of children with disabilities regardless of income.

Head Start (Ages 3 to 5)

Head Start is a no-cost school readiness preschool program for children 3 – 5 years of age whose family incomes are at or below 100% of poverty. Head Start is a comprehensive program that, in addition to education, provides for social services, health/dental, nutrition, mental health, and disability services to participating families. By coordinating these services for each child, Head Start provides skills that bring about a greater degree of social competence and allows the child to deal more effectively with his/her present environment and later responsibilities in school and life.

Great Start Readiness Program (Ages 4 to 5)

The Great Start Readiness Program provides many of the same services as Head Start but eligibility is limited to children who are 4 years of age. Programming is open to families whose incomes are within 250% of poverty. GSRP families who exceed income guidelines may be charged tuition based upon GSRP income requirements and a sliding fee scale.

For more information about Bay & Arenac County Early Head Start call Jessica Eichman at 989-464-0172

Food Programs

WIC

WIC is a federally funded program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services. WIC is a food and nutrition program that services pregnant women, infants and children up to the age of 5 years old. By providing healthy foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and assistance with referrals to local health and support services, WIC helps with positive pregnancy outcomes as well as normal child growth and development.

BAY COUNTY

Learn more about: BAY COUNTY WIC

ARENAC COUNTY

Location: 4489 W. M-61, Suite 3

Standish, MI 48658

PO Box: 734

Phone: (989) 846-6541

FAX: (989) 846-0431

Hours: Monday thru Friday

8:30am - Noon, 1pm - 4:30pm

Learn more: ARENAC COUNTY WIC

Arenac County: NEMCSA Food Boost Program

Need a little boost? NEMCSA has you covered! With the NEMCSA Food Boost Program we offer extra food with the Golden Grocery monthly giveaway, at local pantries and through home delivery! 

This program is formally known as: The Food Assistance Program or TEFAP. 

Food items can include, but not limited to: peanut butter, cheese, soup, canned fruit, meat and vegetables.

Learn more about: FOOD BOOS PROGRAM

FREE COVID 19 Test

Have you ordered another round of free COVID tests from Project Act this month?

Order online at https://accesscovidtests.org or call 211 for help!

Tests are available for every

household in Michigan on a monthly basis (through Feb 2023). Households will receive one kit containing five tests per order.

Learn more about: FREE COVID TEST

Michigan Tri-Share

The MI Tri-Share Child Care Program (Tri-Share) is an innovative approach to increasing access to high quality, affordable child care for working families, with the cost of child care shared by an employer, the employee and the State of Michigan. The pilot also seeks to increase the labor market by allowing employers to offer a child care subsidy to help retain and attract talent.

Learn More: MICHIGAN TRI-SHARE

Child Care Workforce Support Stipends

The Bay Area Community Foundation is funding a onboarding stipend for child care providers hired on or after 9/14/21 (scholarship to support the provider's costs to hire new staff)

Learn More: CHILD CARE WORKFORCE SUPPORT STIPENDS

Caring for MI Future

Caring for MI Future is a statewide effort to help child care entrepreneurs open 1,000 new or expanded child care programs by the end of 2024. This initiative, led by the Michigan Departments of Education and Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (MDE & LARA) is focusing on what entrepreneurs need most to open and expand child care businesses—help finding and renovating space, startup funding, help recruiting staff, and support creating a business plan.

Learn More: CARING FOR MI FUTURE

Learn More & Register: MSU EXTENSION PARENT CLASSES

Visit Great Lakes Bay Parents' KIDS DAILY CALENDAR (Sponsored by the Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan) for a full listing of story times, family/ kid events, and new places to discover in the Great Lakes Bay Region.

STEM Passport

STEM Pipeline

You and your child can explore STEM Passport locations and events in the Great Lakes Bay Region (GLBR) by accessing our STEM calendar of events or our partner websites in the list below.

Arenac & Bay County STEM-Rich Organizations

• Arenac Community Center, Standish
• Bay City State Recreation Area, Bay City
• Bay County Library System
• The Historical Museum of Bay County, Bay City
• Delta College Planetarium
• Delta Kids / Michigan Learning Channel

Start Exploring: STEM PASSPORT

PLAYGROUPS

JANUARY EVENTS

January 4 & 18

January 5, 12, 19 & 27

January 5

January 6 & 20

January 7

January 9

January 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 & 31

January 10, 17, 24 & 31

January 11, 18 & 25

January 11, 12, 18, 19, 25 & 26

January 11, 18 & 25

January 11, 18 & 25

January 12, 19 & 26

January 13 & 27

January 13

January 13

January 14

January 16

January 19

January 20

January 27

January 27

January 27

January 28

January 29

Visit Great Lakes Bay Parents' KIDS DAILY CALENDAR (Sponsored by the Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan) for a full listing of story times, family/ kid events, and new places to discover in the Great Lakes Bay Region.

211 NORTHEAST MICHIGAN