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MetroAction Awards Grants Benefiting Child Care Providers in NEPA

MetroAction Childcare MicroGrant Recipient

MetroAction recently awarded MicroGrants and scholarships totaling $2,447 to seven child care providers committed to improving the quality of child care in northeastern Pennsylvania.  The awards are being made through MetroAction’s Child Care MicroGrant program.  The providers receiving awards are located in four counties across northeastern Pennsylvania and are impacting nearly 200 area children.

“These awards provided through the Child Care MicroGrant Program build the capacity of child care providers so that they can continue to increase the availability of quality child care, despite the current economic crisis. Child care providers have access to a number of curriculum based training programs, but, there are not many training programs available to help them develop their businesses,” said Kristine Augustine, Vice President of Business and Community Development, MetroAction.  “By utilizing scholarships to the Small Business Institute, providers are getting much needed business planning training while getting professional development credits from the PA Keys PQAS program.”

“It is also imperative that we start exposing children to basic financial concepts, such as budgeting and saving, at an early age.  Doing so will help ensure that future generations are more in control of their financial affairs,” continues Augustine.

The providers that received Organization Development Awards include:  Freckles and Frills, Scranton; Wyoming Valley Montessori School, Kingston; and Candy Apple Daycare, Dunmore.  The providers that received Program Development Awards include: Little Acres Learning Center, Lake Ariel, The Good Shepherd Child Care Center, Milford, United Neighborhood Center-Bellevue Center, Scranton, and Mountaintop Kids, Mountaintop.

MetroAction received nine applications from child care providers across eight counties requesting more than $4,500 in funding under the fall 2009 round of the Child Care MicroGrant Program.  Today’s announcement completes the 2009 MicroGrant Program funding round by awarding the remaining appropriated funds to the most highly rated applicants.

Background

Through the Child Care MicroGrant Program, MetroAction invests in and builds the capacity of child care providers that are committed to increasing the availability of quality child care in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The Child Care MicroGrant Program consists of two types of awards:  Program Development and Organization Development.  The program was funded through a grant from the Opportunity Finance Network in Philadelphia.  MetroAction receives applications on a semi-annual basis and awards funds through a competitive process.  Since inception, MetroAction has awarded over $15,000 through the Child Care MicroGrant Program, impacting over 1,300 children and families.

Program Development awards allow MetroAction to achieve financial development impact by investing in child care providers that will provide financial management training programs to children in their care.  Organizational Development awards are made to child care providers who are committed to improving their organizational capacity by participating in MetroAction’s Small Business Institute, a comprehensive entrepreneurship training program.

MetroAction provides MicroLoans to small businesses in northeastern Pennsylvania who do not have access to traditional sources of credit. Covering Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Wayne and Wyoming counties, MetroAction, a nonprofit Small Business Administration (SBA) lender, is northeastern Pennsylvania’s leading provider of small business loans and comprehensive business training.

For more information on MetroAction’s programs and services, please visit www.MetroAction.org.

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