WILLISTON – Building Bright Futures announced the recipients of its Vermont Early Childhood Fund (VECF) awards for 2025 last week. The fund supports creative solutions to improve the well-being of children from the prenatal period through age 8, their families, and the Vermont communities in which they live.
These grants will allow awardees in every region of Vermont to pursue important and innovative projects.
Caledonia Central Supervisory Union (CCSU) received a grant to support improvements to CCSU’s Early Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), providing students, staff and families with effective strategies to improve both social-emotional and academic child outcomes.
Funding for Christine Hertz Hausman LLC in Franklin, Lamoille, and Washington Counties will support implementation of a professional development Community of Practice (CoP) that will include 15 public school prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms from Washington, Lamoille and Franklin counties. Educators in this CoP will enhance the quality of their programs by nurturing positive childhood experiences for all children, using the principles of the Reggio Emilia approach. Areas of inquiry may include play as a powerful learning tool, responsive teaching and building nurturing relationships.
The VECF Opportunity Grant awards to over 40 organizations range from $10,000 to $80,000 supporting easy-to-achieve solutions with direct results.
St. Johnsbury’s Umbrella has been elevating the voices of women, families and survivors of interpersonal violence in the Northeast Kingdom since 1976. Funding will support a new monthly meeting series for Specialized Child Care Providers in Orleans and Essex counties, as well as additional professional development opportunities. These meetings will offer support, curriculum resources and professional development, complementing both the Early Childhood Network Meetings and the work of the CIS Specialized Child Care Coordinator.
The Vermont Consultation & Psychiatry Access Program (VTCPAP) is a free, statewide initiative designed to support pediatric and perinatal medical providers in delivering high-quality mental health care to their patients. Funding will support free training for therapists in the SPACE therapeutic model, an evidence-based treatment for anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related conditions.
The Vermont Parent Child Center Network is the statewide organization that provides collaborative leadership, advocacy and support for Vermont’s 15 designated Parent Child Centers (PPCs), including Northeast Kingdom Community Action (NEKCA) and the Lamoille Family Center, so they are able to achieve the best outcomes for Vermont’s children, youth and families. Funding will support a statewide initiative to boost family engagement and leadership at all 15 PCCs and enhance PCCs strategies for getting feedback from parents in ways that work with their busy schedules. The goal of the project is to build the systems, protocols and practices to ensure that PCC services are family-driven and responsive to the needs and concerns parents are facing.
VECF was established in 2021 thanks to a grant from a private donor and was able to continue to fund projects in 2022 and 2023 with support from the Sunflower Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation. VECF is currently funded by the Vermont Integration Project: Building Integration in Vermont’s Birth–5 Early Childhood Systems (VIP B–5) Preschool Development Grant. Thanks to this federal grant, VECF expanded its funding substantially this year, from $105,000 for projects carried out in 2023 to $8 million in grants awarded between December 2023 and July 2025. This is the fourth and final round of VECF funding under the PDG grant, which ends in December 2025.
