Consumers Energy Foundation has provided a $20,000 grant to the Wexford-Missaukee-Manistee Great Start Collaborative to support early childhood programming in the region.

This continues the foundation’s commitment to investing in early childhood programs through the Great Start Collaborative, marking a total of $174,000 the foundation has awarded to the initiative in the last few years.

The funds will support a variety of early childhood programs in Wexford, Missaukee, Manistee and northern Osceola counties. Among the projects benefitting from the funding are the Wexford-Missaukee Imagination Library, Home Visiting throughout the area, and preschool scholarships in Manistee County.

“Consumers Energy is committed to ensuring all Michigan residents have access to world-class educational resources, and supporting Great Start Collaborative through our foundation is an excellent way to develop literacy from a young age,” Carolyn Bloodworth, secretary/treasurer of the Consumers Energy Foundation said. “We’re pleased to open an exciting chapter in the lives of thousands of Northern Michigan children by supporting this effort to inspire them to read.”

The Home Visiting portion of the award will increase the availability of evidence-based home visiting throughout the service which is aimed at increasing school readiness, child health and parent competency.

The preschool scholarship program is a unique program in Manistee County, benefitting seven families in the current year and seeking to grow each year. The program comes out of a collaborative partnership initiated by the Great Start Collaborative and the Manistee County Community Foundation’s community leadership initiative, Launch Manistee, whose focus is to support the success of students from early childhood through adulthood.