This year, the Call Foundation awarded grants to nine Utah organizations focused on Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood & Family Mental Health. These grants aim to support children aged zero to eight, along with parents, caregivers, and teachers. The foundation's initiative seeks to ensure that all children and families in Utah have equal access to high-quality early childhood education and mental health services.
We understand that 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. Learn more about our 2024 partners in action.
1999 Collective
Named after the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, the 1999 Collective supports young adults with experience in foster care in the interrelated areas of employment, education, housing, transportation, basic needs, mental health, and community. Importantly, the 1999 Collective is co-designed and co-led by foster care alumni, who can quickly build trust with other systems-impacted young people and innovate effective solutions to the complex problems underlying Utah’s poor outcomes.
Our grant to the 1999 Collective supports research and development of programs for parenting foster care alumni. These initiatives aim to enhance positive experiences for both the alumni and their children, establish strong foundations for healthy and successful lives, and break the multi-generational cycle of foster care.
Learn more about the 1999 Collective.
Children's Service Society of Utah
The Children's Service Society of Utah (CSS) is a long-standing non-profit dedicated to empowering parents, caregivers, and professionals through services supporting the safety and well-being of children. Our Home Visitation program provides personalized, in-home early childhood education and family support services to low-income and at-risk families with young children (ages 0-5).
Our grant to the Children's Service Centers supports their Home Visitation (HV) program, a critical community service in Salt Lake County and Tooele County that targets low-income and high-risk families throughout pregnancy until their child enters kindergarten. The program promotes school readiness, maternal, infant, and early childhood health, safety, economic mobility, and development. HV utilizes the evidence-based Parents as Teachers (PAT) model to help caregivers connect with their child’s early development and build a lifetime foundation for academic success.
Learn more about the Children's Service Society of Utah
Davis Education Foundation
The Davis Education Foundation is a federally approved nonprofit fundraising arm of Davis School District. Its mission is to remove barriers to learning, provide educational opportunities for all students, and connect the community through giving.
Our grant to Davis Education Foundation supports the expansion of the school district's Head Start program, aimed to help children get ready to succeed in school through learning experiences tailored to their changing needs and abilities. The program supports five key domains: approaches to learning, social and emotional development, language and literacy, cognition, and physical development. This grant request aims to strengthen the domain of language and literacy.
Learn more about the Davis Education Foundation
Friend of the Children - Utah
Friends-Utah impacts generational change – breaking cycles of trauma and poverty – by empowering youth facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors for 12+ years. They work with community partners to identify and enroll the community’s highest-priority children facing the greatest systemic barriers to success, including historical marginalization and racism. The grant to Friends of the Children - Utah seeks to support their program staff and strengthen their evidence-based curriculum and evaluation tools.
Learn more about Friends of the Children-Utah
Prevent Child Abuse Utah
Prevent Child Abuse Utah (PCAU) has been in operation and serving families for more than 40 years. It is the only nonprofit in the state whose sole focus is the prevention of child abuse and neglect. It is widely known and respected in the community. PCAU’s education team presents to students in K-12 classrooms and teaches them how to recognize, resist, and report abuse. The organization is also a leading expert in home visiting in Utah.
Our grant to PCAU supports the expansion of their home visitation program to at least four new service areas including Salt Lake, Toelle, Iron, and Washington Counties with four home visiting models. The PCAU was awarded a state contract of $15.2M in 2024 for the home visitation program.
Learn more about Prevent Child Abuse Utah.
The Children's Center Utah
The Children's Center Utah provides comprehensive mental health services to improve the emotional well-being of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their families. Many of the children served in the Therapeutic Preschool Program come from vulnerable or marginalized populations and have been victims of abuse, neglect, or other complex trauma. Our Grant to The Children's Center Utah supports their Therapeutic Preschool Program, which provides evidence-based, trauma-informed comprehensive mental health services for children ages two through five who have been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, trauma, or stressor disorders.
Learn more about The Children's Center Utah
Utah State University - White Mesa Project
The White Mesa community is part of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe whose headquarters are in Towaoc, Colorado. Griselda Rogers, Ute Mountain Ute White Mesa Education Director, has indicated a great need for parenting supports and services for the families living in the White Mesa community. She indicated that these parenting supports would be most beneficial if they were culturally relevant and provided through home visiting and parenting events. Several of the families have limited exposure to traditional parenting practices as parents/grandparents attended boarding schools and did not grow up in their family homes. The grant to the White Mesa Project aims to address disparities and build resiliency of Ute Mountain Ute young children living in the geographically isolated community of White Mesa, Utah by providing culturally meaningful home visits and caregiver support.
Learn more about the White Mesa Project at Utah State University
Utah's Promise
Utah’s Promise is committed to 100% of kids and families thriving. Utah’s Promise aligns, guides, and supports the work of Promise Partnership Utah and 211 Utah. Promise Partnership Utah builds and nurtures the partnerships necessary for all students to achieve their potential, while 211 Utah provides social care navigation to provide better access to basic needs services. Our grant to Utah's Promise supports the programming for expecting and new parents, as part of a comprehensive strategy to foster early childhood development and provide parent education. Through the delivery of innovative Baby Scholars programming, they aim to provide education, resources, and support for early childhood development, and foster a sense of community and belonging for expecting and new parents with children ages 0-3.
Learn more about Utah's Promise Utah's Promise
YWCA UTAH
YWCA Utah fights for marginalized individuals through direct services, education, and advocacy. More than half of the domestic violence (DV) survivors who seek safety and support at YWCA bring children with them. By providing afterschool services, teen programming, drop-in childcare, and early education access through Lolie Eccles Early Education Center, YWCA Utah aims to give structure and safety, provide opportunities for skill- and relationship-building, and ensure children receive high-quality academic and socio-emotional support. Our grant to the YWCA Utah supports Trauma-Informed Teacher Training and Early Education Access.
Learn more about YWCA Utah