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Welcome Our New Staff Members

Patty Rose serves as the Assistant Director of Early Childhood Health and Community Supports for the Building Strong Brains Early Childhood Initiative. In this role, she works closely with Coalition leadership to lead and advance maternal and child health efforts, facilitate action teams, and strengthen community engagement throughout Elkhart County. Patty brings more than a decade of experience from Purdue University’s Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, where she supported communities across Indiana in reducing health disparities and improving outcomes. Earlier in her career, she worked in Health IT at Goshen Physicians and is a Certified Community of Change/Strategic Doing Practitioner, skilled at tackling complex challenges through collaboration. Holly Landis is the Operations Coordinator for the Building Strong Brains Coalition, partnering with the team to keep daily operations running smoothly and effectively. Holly holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Indiana University and an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan. Her professional experience includes serving as Town Manager for Wakarusa, working in engineering services at Zimmer Biomet, and providing customer service support at Everence Financial. She also contributes her time as a board member for The Center, reflecting her commitment to supporting community well-being. With Patty’s arrival, Brian Replogle’s role will shift to focus on quality childcare and early learning environments. That’s a big job to tackle a big issue as we change this system together. That action team is busy and we are thrilled that Brian can focus on these issues Welcome Patty and Holly!

Supporting Families, Finding Resources

The launch of Findhelp was successful and continues to expand into Elkhart County. Initial data indicates a successful launch and growth in resource connections.

Findhelp.org is a web portal that simplifies easily searching for local community programs that offer free and reduced-cost services, helping support individuals with living a healthier life. To learn more, visit Building Strong Brains Findhelp.

The data below is exciting, but even more exciting are the stories we are hearing about how this information is being used to help others. If you have such a story, reach out to Brian Replogle at brianr@inspiringgood.org.

Quarterly Convening Recap

Building Strong Brains partners gathered June 10 at the Goshen College Fellowship Hall for the quarterly convening. The meeting brought together more than 70 participants to reflect on recent progress, share insights, and plan for the work ahead to help every child in Elkhart County thrive.

Updates highlighted the ongoing efforts of the Family Voice team, which continues to elevate parent and caregiver perspectives in shaping early childhood priorities. The new cohort of community resource navigators, representing 11 partner organizations, was also recognized. These navigators will provide valuable information about the challenges families face and help strengthen connections to resources.

During the working lunch, participants took part in a collective storytelling session, sharing examples of progress and opportunities within the coalition’s shared work.

Partners left the convening with a renewed sense of purpose and connection, ready to continue working together to build a stronger early childhood system for all families in Elkhart County.

Lilly GIFT VIII Projects Launched

Thanks to the generous GIFT VIII funding awarded by Lilly Endowment in December 2024 and the dedication of BSB partners, several new collaborative projects are launching in spring and summer 2025, building on the many efforts already in progress.

Head Start Boot Camp
This eight-week summer program focused on kindergarten readiness skills for children who remain on the Head Start waitlist in May and will enter kindergarten in the fall. This program launched in May and expects to serve about 100 children, with priority for families living in the 46516 and 46528 zip codes. Learn more: http://headstartesj.com/

Nurturing Care Groups
This approach builds on community strengths and lived experience by engaging parents and caregivers as volunteers to offer education and support. Volunteers share information about child health, safety, connection, and maternal well-being, creating a supportive network for pregnant women, new parents, and caregivers. Learn more: https://capselkhart.org/nurturing-care-groups/

Community Resource Navigator Cohort
This initiative expands resource navigation services for families in communities with the greatest needs, focusing on the 46516 and 46528 zip codes. A shared learning agenda helps gather information about what helps or hinders families in getting support. Read more below about this cohort launched in May 2025.: https://buildingstrongbrains.net/

Case Management
Expanded case management supports families with children from prenatal to age 2. The goal is to increase prenatal visits, provide safe sleep education, reduce low and very low birth weights, and offer breastfeeding support. Learn more: https://elkhartcountyhealth.org/services/healthy-beginnings/

Early Childhood Mental Health Services
This effort expands direct mental health services for young children at risk of removal from preschool programs. It includes training and consultation for childcare staff, along with direct support for families through mental health guidance and resource navigation. Learn more: https://thesourceelkhart.org/

Driving Action for Impact

On May 14, 2025, BSB launched a cohort of 25 community resource navigators representing 11 partner organizations. These front-line navigators will share insights about the challenges young parents face, highlight resources that help address those challenges, and document gaps between what families need and what is currently available. This group will meet monthly to choose training topics, exchange tips, and learn from one another.

Information and ideas from this project will be shared across the coalition, and action teams will be encouraged to explore ways to address the gaps that emerge. RETA and Goshen College will help facilitate the monthly gatherings.

We are grateful to the dedicated individuals and organizations who have committed to this work. Their time and expertise will help strengthen our shared efforts to support young children and families in Elkhart County.

 

New Prenatal Voucher Program

The Health System Alignment Team collaborated to create a prenatal voucher program for uninsured women.  With a goal to improve maternal and infant health, this initial strategy will remove the financial barrier for early and adequate prenatal care.  This voucher is available to families through a community resource navigator from one of 11 community organizations.  We are excited to see how this strategy will improve the outcomes for babies in our community.

Highlights from the 2024 BSB Data Walk

At the March convening, the BSB Data Support Team hosted a data walk featuring results from the 2024 Visible Network Labs survey. This survey gathered feedback from BSB member organizations about how they view BSB and how they connect with other groups in the coalition.

The network maps on display showed the many connections among partners, helping us see areas of strength and places where we can build more ties.

Highlights shared included:

  • BSB brings together many sectors from across Elkhart County, with cross-sector partnerships happening throughout the community. There is still room to invite more voices from industry and rural areas.
  • Member organizations value BSB’s role in bringing people together around a shared vision for early childhood and in strengthening trust and collaboration, especially through action teams.
  • Many partners want more tools and resources to shine a light on the work of other organizations and create new opportunities to work together.

The first survey offered a helpful look at how our coalition works together. Since fall 2024, more groups have joined. We look forward to repeating the survey in fall 2025 to measure our progress and keep building connections for children and families.

Uniting for Change: Building Strong Brains Coalition Gathers for Quarterly Meeting

Uniting for Change: Building Strong Brains Coalition Gathers for Quarterly Meeting

The Building Strong Brains Coalition recently held its quarterly meeting at Goshen College on Tuesday, March 25, bringing together key partners and action team members dedicated to improving outcomes for young children and families in Elkhart County. The morning was filled with updates, discussions, and new initiatives aimed at driving positive change across the community.

Welcoming Remarks & Purpose
Kim Boynton, Director of the Building Strong Brains Coalition, welcomed participants and outlined the meeting’s agenda. The focus remained on celebrating collective wins, launching the Building Strong Brains FindHelp platform, and exploring new data from Visible Network Labs to enhance collaboration efforts. Boynton emphasized the coalition’s continued commitment to three core areas:
• Quality Early Learning Environments
• Community Supports
• Healthy Moms and Babies

She also acknowledged the need to address foundational issues like food and housing security to enhance the coalition’s impact. Reflecting on a previous meeting in October 2023, Boynton noted that lasting change requires working at three levels: explicit, semi•explicit, and implicit.

Celebrating Successes & Addressing Challenges
The coalition’s progress was bolstered by a $7.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment (Lilly Gift VIII), awarded to the Community Foundation of Elkhart County to support the Building Strong Brains initiative over five years. As Boynton said, “This grant award is one of many affirmations that our collective work is building a strong foundation that will lead to improved outcomes for young children and families.”

Key initiatives highlighted during the meeting included:
• Healthcare Access: Regular meetings among healthcare leaders are helping to identify and address barriers to prenatal care access.
• Community Resource Navigator Cohort: A new effort aimed at better-connecting families with necessary resources.
• Fetal Infant Mortality Review: The Community Action Team component of this work will be part of the Maternal and Child Health Action Team’s ongoing work to improve outcomes for mothers and infants.
• Family Voice Project: Ensuring solutions are designed with direct input from parents and caregivers.

Introducing Findhelp
Brian Replogle, Assistant Director of Building Strong Brains, introduced the new Findhelp platform, designed to connect families to local resources more effectively. This tool aims to streamline access to services and enhance the coalition’s ability to respond to community needs.

Partner Contributions & New Tools
Several partners shared updates on their projects:
• Shin Yee Tan from Beacon Community Impact and The SOURCE introduced the Family Journey Consortium, which offers comprehensive services for birthing individuals and families.
• Natalie Evans from Crossroads United Way discussed Lantern, a tool offering resources and support for parents and caregivers.
• Patty Rose from Purdue University highlighted efforts to create safe, accessible indoor play spaces for children.
• Holly Decker from Geminis shared the success of the Family Child Care Network, which has engaged more home•based providers and improved care quality.

Building Toward Transformative Change
As Boynton noted, real transformation involves not just structural changes but also relational dynamics and shifting underlying beliefs. The coalition is working at all three levels:
• Structural Changes (Explicit): Policy adjustments, new programs, and improved resource allocation.
• Relational Changes (Semi-Explicit): Strengthening networks and improving collaboration across sectors.
• Transformative Changes (Implicit): Shifting mindsets and cultural narratives about what it means for children to thrive.

Looking Ahead
Despite the challenges, the coalition’s progress remains strong. The commitment to learning, collaboration, and relentless problem•solving continues to drive the work forward.“We have far to go on this journey, but we have accomplished a lot and we aren’t slowing down,” said Boynton.

 

We’re Listening! Share Your Parenting Experience With Family Voice

At Building Strong Brains, we believe that every parent and caregiver’s voice matters. The Family Voice mini-action team is on a mission to listen to parents’ and caregivers’ experiences as they prepare their children for school. We know our community’s diversity is growing, and it’s essential to hear from everyone—especially those whose voices are often less heard.
Are you a parent or caregiver who:
  • Belongs to a minority group?
  • Speaks a language other than English?
  • Is new to the community?
  • Has a unique or less common parenting experience?
If so, we want to hear from you! Your stories, challenges, and insights can help shape a more inclusive and supportive community for all families.
We are looking for conversationalists — people willing to have meaningful, friendly conversations with parents and caregivers like you. The more voices we gather, the more we can understand and support each other.
Interested in learning more? Contact Shin Yee at shin.tan@oaklawn.org to get involved and make your voice heard.
Together, let’s build stronger connections and a brighter future for our children!
Join us in this effort

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