NEWS

Candy Yoder will retire from her role as Chief Program Officer at the Community Foundation of Elkhart County at the end of 2024. Candy joined CAPS in 1989 as a program coordinator and served as president and CEO beginning in 2009. She joined the Community Foundation of Elkhart County in 2018, leading the grant committees in selecting areas of...

On November 13, the Building Strong Brains coalition convened at Goshen College to celebrate the collective progress and continue to identify ways to advance this important early childhood work. Teams shared about their current work and planning for next steps. Below are highlights shared by the teams. Maternal and Child Health Action Team...

Engaging and Growing the Elkhart County Family Child Care Network The Family Child Care Network (FCCN) is growing in Elkhart County. In November, family child care providers gathered to enjoy a meal, celebrate their work, and learn more about early childhood programs and services, including those provided by CAPS, Maple City Health Care Center,...

The Data Support Team launched Visible Network Labs in November. With the help of Visible Network Labs, we’ll gain deeper insights into our community networks and create visual tools to better understand our partnerships, highlight strengths, and pinpoint gaps in our ecosystem. Learn more at this LINK.

The Communications Support Team engaged with the work of refreshing the Building Strong Brains website and launching social media to evolve with the coalition work. We will be adding additional content to the site to continue to make it a valuable resource for our collective work in Elkhart County. Click on the LINK to visit the website. Social...

The Building Strong Brains coalition has consistently highlighted the importance of understanding all factors that influence a young child’s ability to thrive. Recognizing that Economic Self-Sufficiency plays a vital role in a family’s stability and a child’s success, the coalition acknowledges the need for ongoing evolution in its work. The...

Building Strong Brains convened 40 Community Resource Navigators from eight community organizations in October to listen to community resource navigators who are experts in the experiences of families with young children in Elkhart County. Jeanette Harder, PhD, MSW, LSW, MSW Program Director, and Professor of Social Work at Goshen College, led...

Liz Weaver retired from Tamarack Institute at the end of November. Liz served in leadership roles at the Tamarack Institute for 15 years, with her most recent role serving as co-CEO. Liz has been an amazing partner in Building Strong Brains by contributing design work, offering tools to propel engagement, challenging us, and encouraging us. We...

Brian Replogle joined the Building Strong Brains Coalition in August as its assistant director. A retired firefighter and EMT-A from South Bend, Brian is a dedicated father to his son, Austin, and has been a passionate advocate for families and children—both with and without disabilities—for over 20 years. He has collaborated with various local,...

Thank you to SmartNoggin for donating over 100 Baby’s First Book of Sounds to Elkhart County partners for distribution to families. Marcia Haut, SmartNoggin Founder, lived and worked in Elkhart County for years and we are thankful for this donation to support young children and families in Elkhart County. If you haven’t heard of SmartNoggin,...