The Call Foundation’s Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood & Family Mental Health Grant Program supports organizations and initiatives that assist children (ages zero through eight-years-old), parents, caregivers, and teachers. The foundation seeks to ensure all children and families in Utah and our region have equal access to high-quality early childhood education and mental health services.
Our Strategy
A child’s early experiences have lifelong physical, social, and emotional impacts. While positive experiences position a young child for a stronger life, traumatic experiences during those early years may result in long-lasting, negative consequences. This early phase of life is critical for positive brain development and building a solid foundation for a healthy and successful life.
Research shows that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) can harm a person’s health and well-being into adulthood, and may result in poor health outcomes like chronic disease, developmental delays, homelessness, sustained poverty, and increased risk for involvement in the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, children of color are much more likely to experience trauma and toxic stress and thus some of these negative outcomes.
High-quality early childhood education and mental health care support and sustain a child’s success throughout life. Early involvement in these programs supports educational attainment and success and increases earning potential. In short, healthy, well-educated children bolster full communities for generations.
Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood & Family Mental Health Grant
Call Foundation 2024 Request for Proposals (RFP)
We are now accepting proposals for our 2024 Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood & Family Mental Health grant program. Through this process, we seek to identify and support nonprofit organizations engaged in the vital work of addressing disparities, building resiliency, and providing children with a healthy start, especially those from economically disadvantaged and historically marginalized communities.
Please review the below eligibility and restrictions sections to ensure your organization is in alignment with our funding priorities.
Eligibility:
-
Must be a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
-
Must focus on early childhood education and/or early childhood and family mental health.
-
Serve children and caregivers from prenatal through third grade.
-
The organization must offer program services in the state of Utah.
-
Programs must primarily serve low-income families and communities.
Special Priority (programs or initiatives that):
-
Use evidence-based/informed and trauma-informed interventions.
-
Employ culturally responsive strategies.
-
Improve coordination and collaboration between entities in the early childhood space.
-
Use a multi-generational approach.
Restrictions:
-
After-school programs or tutoring.
-
Capital requests (e.g., the purchase or renovation of buildings, vehicles, or technology).
-
Endowments (e.g., establishing an investment fund or a permanent, self-sustaining source of funding).
-
Events (e.g., fundraisers, conferences, workshops) that are not part of a Call Foundation-funded project or fit with our priorities.
-
Individual assistance (e.g., tuition, financial support, emergency aid, etc.).
-
Programs outside the state of Utah.
The deadline to submit an RFP is Friday, May 24, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. MST.
Applicants will be notified by the end of June 2024, via email, that either:
- They are invited to submit a full proposal, or
- Their project has not been selected to move forward in the grant process