NEWS

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.

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.

Starting March 18, the Elkhart Public Library’s main branch downtown will host the first-ever Triple P for Baby group sessions. To learn more, read this blog post on our website.

CAPS has a new program called Nurturing Care Groups. We are excited about this and eager to see it grow. You can learn more at this blog post on our website.

One project funded by the Lilly Endowment grant will strengthen support for expectant and new parents through an Enhanced Community Resource Navigator Cohort program. This initiative expands resource navigation services in communities where improved outcomes are most needed, focusing on the 46516 and 46528 zip codes. A shared learning agenda will guide data collection on the challenges and opportunities families face. Organizations already utilizing resource navigators will be invited to explore participation in this effort.

As Bright by Text celebrates 30 years of service as an accessible village for parents, it’s being renamed Lantern, which “symbolizes the company’s role in guiding families and lighting the way to education, wellness, and connection. Like a lantern lighting the path, they aim to provide clear, reliable, and timely information to families to help every child thrive”. Parents can still access the same information through Lantern. To sign up, text the word “CHILD” to 274448 to start receiving Lantern messages today.

findhelp.org is a web portal that simplifies searching for local community programs that offer free and reduced-cost services, helping support individuals with living a healthier life.

We’ve been working hard to develop the information on this amazing platform. We will officially launch it at our quarterly meeting, but you can take a look at Building Strong Brains findhelp. We welcome your input to make this a key resource for our community.

This graphic highlights the three active pillars of Elkhart County’s coalition. A fourth factor of economic self-sufficiency is represented with a dotted line because this is outside the scope of Building Strong Brains, yet it significantly impacts the outcomes for families with young children.

As a coalition dedicated to improving early childhood outcomes in Elkhart County, we recognize that every component is interconnected, forming a unified early childhood system. We remain committed to identifying barriers, gaps, and opportunities to drive meaningful change and strengthen this system.

Lilly Endowment Inc. awarded a $7.5 million grant to fuel the progress of Building Strong Brains. The Community Foundation is the financial agent for the grant, which resulted from hard work by a number of community partners and amazing philanthropy in the early stages of the Lilly GIFT VIII process. (Read this press release for more information.)

This funding will strengthen support for children under age 6, through collective work in the areas of maternal and child health, early learning environments, and community resources for children and families with an overall goal of improving kindergarten readiness. We will continue the important work of ensuring every child is Born To Thrive In Elkhart County.