NEWS
Countdown to Kindergarten: Eight Weeks in the Books
This summer, 300 children came through Countdown to Kindergarten. Our team is still doing the careful work of assessing what those eight weeks gave them, and the full results will take time to gather. But here's what we already know without waiting on the data: eight weeks matter. In the coming days, these children will walk into kindergarten...
Save the Date: November Coalition Summit
Mark your calendar for Tuesday, November 10, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Goshen College Fellowship Hall. Breakfast and lunch are included, and it's shaping up to be a full day. In the morning, we'll celebrate what this coalition has built together: the Health System Alignment team's work removing barriers to prenatal care, Countdown to...
Thank You, Jaden
This summer, our intern Jaden Fear spent her time strengthening Findhelp, adding partners and making it easier for families across Elkhart County to find the services they need. Friday, August 7 was her last day with us, and we want to send her off with a proper thank-you. If your organization isn't on Findhelp yet, now's a good time to join....
What Families Are Telling Us, and What We Owe Them in Return
At the June 9 Building Strong Brains convening, Shin Yee Tan stood before about 80 coalition partners and asked a simple question: whose voices are actually in the room? The answer was honest. Not all of them. Shin YeeTan, manager at The SOURCE and a longtime contributor to the coalition's family voice work, walked the group through years of...
June Convening Brings Coalition Together Around Shared Purpose
About 80 people gathered at Goshen College on June 9 for the latest Building Strong Brains convening, spending a morning together that covered a lot of ground and left the room with much to think about. Coalition Director Lindsay Aguilar opened by grounding the work in something real. She asked the group to think about mothers in Elkhart County...
Planning Begins for Elkhart County’s Pop-Up Pregnancy & Family Village
Building Strong Brains is partnering with the University of Notre Dame's Eck Institute for Global Health to bring a Pop-Up Pregnancy & Family Village to Elkhart County: a one-stop gathering of services and supports for families navigating pregnancy, prenatal care, and the early days of parenthood. The idea is simple and powerful. Instead of...
Countdown to Kindergarten: Free Summer Camp Enrollment Open
Starting kindergarten is a big step for any child and for any family. Countdown to Kindergarten is our tuition-free, eight-week summer camp designed to help children entering kindergarten in Fall 2026 feel confident, comfortable, and ready for that first day. Through play-based learning, classroom routines, and the steady presence of experienced...
New Resource: Tips for Kindergarten Readiness
Some of the most powerful kindergarten preparation doesn't happen in a classroom. It happens at the kitchen table, in the car, or on a walk around the block. Our Quality Childcare and Early Learning Environments Action Team spent the past year listening to Pre-K and kindergarten teachers, gathering parent input (including from our Family Voice...
March Convening Recap and Save the Date for June
More than 80 partners gathered at Goshen College Fellowship Hall on March 24 for our quarterly convening. A few of the updates worth carrying with you: Findhelp keeps growing. findhelp.buildingstrongbrains.net has now logged 7,719 searches and 3,735 visitors, with food pantries, parenting classes, and housing as the most-searched categories. A...
Building Strong Brains Coalition Quarterly Convening
Building Strong Brains partners gather each quarter to stay connected, share progress, and align on next steps that strengthen the early childhood system in Elkhart County. Join us for lunch, relationship-building, and focused updates from action teams and partners doing this work every day. Event details: Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2026...
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