Location and Context The Rural Minnesota Early Childhood Collaboration (MN) will work throughout Minnesota to enhance the early care and education of Minnesota's youngest children.

Minnesota is a predominantly rural state. The largest urban areas combined are home to less than 20% of the state's population of 4.8 million people. Hundreds of other communities in Minnesota are all under 50,000 in population. Minnesota offers prairie, plains, lakes, river valleys and forests, and primary industries include mining, timber, tourism, agriculture and manufacturing.

Rural parts of Minnesota offer few options for parents when selecting child care. A majority of communities do not have child care centers, so in-home care is the only choice available. In smaller towns, even in-home care may be hard to find. A smaller population base makes it economically unfeasible to operate child care centers, preschools, and other types of care and education for young children that people in larger communities take for granted.

Combine a shortage of child care options with a worker shortage in parts of rural Minnesota, and the economy of many communities is in a double bind. Employers want to hire people and people want to work, but they cannot find adequate child care.

Collaborative Structure and Strategy
The work of collaboration is just beginning for the Rural Minnesota Early Childhood Collaboration. What follows is draft information that is in development with the early collaborative groups, the Minnesota Initiative Funds (MIFs) and Ready 4 K. We have a common vision and mission, and are working to define our plan, our goals, and our expected outcomes.

The Minnesota Initiative Funds (MIFs), created in 1986 by the McKnight Foundation, are six independent, nonprofit public foundations that work collaboratively. Providing services and grant funds in 80 of Minnesota's 87 counties, their efforts promote rural economic and community development, build leadership and planning capacity of local communities, coordinate and leverage resources, and stimulate local giving. Regionally tailored programs include grants, loans, and technical assistance for initiatives for children, youth and families, workforce development, business, and community development.

The MIFs will use the networks they have developed to promote investments in early childhood development and to develop a comprehensive child development and childcare initiative that will be available to all Minnesotans. The MIFs will also identify rural businesses who are willing to publicly endorse the importance of early child development and childcare, both by sharing in the costs and by adopting internal policies that allow and encourage good parenting.

The MIFs bring people in their respective regions together to address common challenges; provides loans, grants, and technical assistance to various kinds of enterprises; creates new partnerships in empowering ways; and respond to local needs.

A primary partner for the MIFs is Ready 4 K. Ready 4 K is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to enlarging public awareness of the needs and potential of young children, and enlisting support to move an ambitious early childhood agenda.

Ready 4 K does grassroots organizing; seeks business involvement in early childhood issues; provides communications capacity; and engages in policy development and advocacy. It enhances capacities of allied organizations to organize and communicate, as well. It devises ways to forge new collaborations to "move the movement."

The highlights of the collaborative work plan focus on four areas: grassroots organizing; social marketing/ public relations; enlistment of the business community; and policy development and advocacy.

Other partner organizations will/may include:

• Congregations Concerned for Children
  
• Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals
  
• Minnesota Childcare Resource and Referral Network
  
• Child Care Works
  
• Children's Defense Fund
  
• Early Childhood Organizing Project
  
• The McKnight Foundation
  
• MN Dept of Children, Families & Learning
  

	Main Contact
	Trixie Ann Golberg Southern Minnesota Initiative Fund Ph: 507-455-3215 trixie@semif.org