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Equitably Shaping Incoming Federal Dollars: Engaging Community and Addressing Childcare Needs in Marquette County

The Community Foundation of Marquette County (CFMC) is one of five CMF members engaging in CMF’s Statewide Equity Fund (SEF) Strategic Support Pilot. Supported by the SEF and through cross-sector collaboration, CFMC engaged community to address childcare needs and develop a childcare business lab.

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children playing outside.

The Community Foundation of Marquette County (CFMC) has been engaged in a cross-sector collaboration to align incoming American Rescue Plan (ARP) resources with Marquette County’s 2040 Master Plan which is focused on increasing access to affordable childcare and ending homelessness.

As CMF reported, Michigan is receiving significant funding through federal and local recovery dollars. As part of the ARP, Michigan is receiving an estimated $10 billion dollars with $1.8 billion in Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funding being allocated directly to 49 Michigan cities and townships

CFMC received a grant from CMF’s Statewide Equity Fund (SEF) earlier this year after being named a regional collaborative lead in the SEF Strategic Support Pilot.

As part of the SEF, CFMC and four other CMF members around the state are leveraging their convening power and working closely with their local units of government and community to shape incoming federal funding toward equity-centered approaches to advance economic prosperity.

CFMC has been working directly with technical assistance providers Grow & Lead and Regionerate LLC, and community partners to identify recommendations to promote local strategies for accessing quality and affordable childcare for Marquette County families and provide resources for individuals and families without shelter.

“The creation of the SEF has been invaluable. As a rural region that lacks capacity, we wouldn’t be able to do this work without technical assistance support to help us think outside of the box and develop new systems,” Zosia Eppensteiner, CEO of CFMC said.

CFMC, in partnership with the technical assistance providers, conducted interviews with local nonprofit partners and the people they serve to better understand ongoing childcare and housing needs.

“Our community leadership role goes beyond grantmaking, and our job isn’t solely to be an advocate for our nonprofit partners in a time when significant financial investments are coming to our area. We can help lift up the voices of the agencies themselves and those they serve,” Eppensteiner said. 

Eppensteiner shared that in order to engage the community during this process they needed to intentionally meet community members where they are.

“For example, we didn’t host one-time meetings where we invited people. We went to churches, community centers, homeless shelters to engage them in the process,” Eppensteiner said.

According to the needs assessment by Grow & Lead, Census hard-to-count populations were used to ensure underrepresented communities were providing feedback.

“The fact that we have had the opportunity to focus on building relationships and trust and making sure that community voices are included in this process is a huge win to me,” Eppensteiner said.

Through these conversations, Regionerate LLC found that the shortage in childcare across the county has had a significant impact on many families’ abilities to return to work, causing turnover and difficulty retaining workers.

As a result of these conversations and the needs assessment, CFMC through the SEF and in partnership with several local organizations including Lake Superior Community Partnership, Great Start to Quality Upper Peninsula Resource Center and Marquette Alger RESA, is supporting the design and implementation of the Marquette County Childcare Business Lab.

The Marquette SEF site will support the program design and evaluation for a cohort of entrepreneurs representing underserved communities in building family-owned childcare provider businesses.  

“Through this process, we recognized that affordability, availability, space and workforce development are all issues throughout the county. We identified the Marquette County Childcare Business Lab as one of the pieces of the puzzle that can help us build a new system,” Eppensteiner said.

In response to the shortage of licensed childcare providers throughout Marquette County, the program will support home-based childcare providers through the process of building their own childcare businesses through licensing and startup costs and business support.

“If we can develop a well-rounded program that will remove barriers and provide a roadmap of starting a successful licensed childcare business that is both fulfilling and where they can pay themselves a living wage, that’s the ultimate goal,” Eppensteiner said.

According to Eppensteiner, reaching underserved communities who can benefit the most from the Lab is being built into the design.

“We want to make sure we’re reaching not only people who are already engaged in this process but that we are reaching populations experiencing extreme hardships due to the childcare shortage,” Eppensteiner said.

The Marquette SEF site recently met with its technical assistance provider to begin planning and outreach for the program.

CMF members Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater Flint, Grand Rapids Community Foundation and the Pontiac Funders Collaborative are also piloting their own work to advance equitable outcomes toward economic prosperity through the SEF in their respective geographic service areas.

The SEF is a $2 million CMF member-led pooled fund that was developed as a pilot to catalyze opportunities for CMF members to partner with communities, local governments and other stakeholders, using their convening power to influence the use of incoming federal funding toward equity centered approaches. Guided by the CMF member-informed policy framework, Building an Equitable Future Together, economic prosperity was identified as the domain area with the greatest potential for impact. The SEF has provided resources to support technical assistance providers and community engagement processes in five regions.

The SEF is supported by CMF members the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Ralph C. Wilson Jr., Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Ballmer Group, DTE Foundation, Ford Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, the Skillman Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the Hudson-Webber Foundation, Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and Grand Rapids Community Foundation.

Want more?

Read the Marquette County Childcare and Homelessness Needs Assessment.  

Learn more about how the Grand Rapids Community Foundation SEF site is working with the city of Grand Rapids in supporting a participatory budgeting process that engages residents in allocating ARP resources.

Explore CMF’s Strategic Support Pilot Resource page, a curated collection of resources highlighting data, tools and resources related to shaping public dollars.

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