Granite State Receives $1 Million Early Learning Opportunities Act Award

Contact: Debra Nelson
(603) 862-0560
djnelson@cisunix.unh.edu

Patti Rawding-Anderson
(603) 895-1522/(603) 305-1811
panderson@eastersealsnh.org

Oct. 21, 2004


 
MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Early Learning Lasts a Lifetime Council of Southern New Hampshire will oversee a 17-month project titled, Links to Early Learning, which was submitted on its behalf by Easter Seals NH, the Institute on Disability/UCED at the University of New Hampshire, and the Family Resource Connection at the New Hampshire State Library.

The $1 million grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service Administration for Children and Families Child Care Bureau, through the Early Learning Opportunities Grant. The grant will enable the project to serve more than 20,000 families with young children in Rockingham, Strafford and Hillsborough counties through activities related to early literacy, child development, participation of children with disabilities in community child care programs, and early care and learning.

The award also will provide financial and technical assistance resources for child care programs, with a strong emphasis on family childcare providers. More than 60 organizations, including non-traditional partners such as libraries, will work in partnership to support and implement the project, which seeks to strengthen collaboration among all who serve young children and their families. The Institute on Disability/UCED advances policies and systems changes, promising practices, education and research that strengthen communities and ensure full access, equal opportunities, and participation for all persons. For more information, visit www.iod.unh.edu.