Florence Crittenton is thrilled to announce its receipt of the Child Care Innovation and Infrastructure Grant, a partnership with the Early Childhood and Family Support Division and 31 childcare providers across Montana to develop and implement innovative community, area, region and/or business-based strategies which expand childcare availability for Montana families.
Florence Crittenton will receive just over $900,000 to assist in the renovations of the first floor of its newly acquired Cooney campus, which will hold the Florence Crittenton Child Enrichment Center, serving children from both our residential programs and the community ages 0-5. Florence Crittenton currently holds 24 childcare spots in this age range. Upon completion of the renovations that will double to 48, increasing capacity at each age range. In addition to assisting with the renovation of the facility, these funds and partnership with the Early Childhood and Family Support Division will help create an effective and affordable model of care for children and sustainable business practices for childcare organizations across the state.
Innovative and high-quality childcare has been a part Florence Crittenton’s services since its creation in Helena over 120 years ago. Today, our childcare programs are a cornerstone of our family-based services, providing safe and caring staff, while ensuring the developmental and the social-emotional needs of children from all walks of life are met.
Executive Director, Carrie Krepps, states, “This grant is not only a transformational funding source that will help us see our facility expansion dream into reality, but it is a huge nod to our early childhood leadership and staff, and the incredible work they do every day in providing high quality care and programming to the children in their care. We are thrilled to be working with the Department on this exciting project, as we assist in creating sustainable models of quality care for the families in our great state.”
Florence Crittenton is currently in the final design phase for the renovation project and, with these funds, anticipates beginning renovations on the childcare area in early Winter 2023. The “Project Sunshine” campaign to complete the renovations is continuing and information can be found at www.projectsunshine.info.
