High-quality early childhood education is a vital component of the engine that drives our economy. It provides parents with the opportunity to hold jobs knowing that their children are receiving developmentally appropriate educational opportunities.

Quality early childhood education also energizes young children and sets them on the path to be successful workers. Investing in young children is an investment in future productivity.

Preschools and child care centers are a linchpin of economic development, so the Dekko Foundation and the Foellinger Foundation are joining forces to put money into the hands of preschool teachers and child care providers to make changes that they think can improve their classrooms.

So what would happen if some funds were made available to northern Indiana preschool teachers and child care providers to use to enhance their classrooms or facilities?

That question prompted two of Indiana’s largest private foundations to team up to support early childhood education in our area with a grant opportunity called “If Only.”

The name of the program is meant to prompt teachers and child care providers to think in innovative ways about how to make their classrooms a better place, through training, touch-ups to their facilities, developmentally appropriate toys or teaching props or other imaginative enhancements to the child’s daily experience.

The grant application essentially asks applicants to complete this sentence: “If only we could …” The possibilities are limited only by the imaginations of the early childhood professionals applying for the money. The grant opportunity is being announced in mailings and in meetings with directors of preschools and child care centers during April, which is designated as the Month of the Young Child.

“If Only” will allow eligible non-profit preschools and child care centers the opportunity to apply for modest grants to make their classrooms better. The best people to decide how to improve a preschool’s classroom are the people who work every day with the children in that classroom. They know what will really make a difference for the children, and this grant opportunity gives them a chance to think about ways to do that.

The “If Only” grant opportunity will be made available on a competitive basis to eligible non-profit preschools and child care centers in Allen, DeKalb, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben and Whitley counties. Teachers may apply for up to $500 to enhance their classroom environments.

In Allen County, the Foellinger Foundation will accept the grant applications; the other counties are served by the Dekko Foundation. The foundations have jointly committed up to $100,000 to the “If Only” grant opportunity.

It is unusual for private foundations to join forces. That’s because private foundations are committed to the charitable intentions of the people who established the foundations. It can be hard work for foundations to find areas where their missions intersect. But foundations expect such cooperative teamwork from the non-profit organizations we support, so we need to make the same commitment to work together, even when it is challenging to find common ground.

One of the things that makes foundations important in our economy is that they can do what government and business often cannot or will not do. President Teddy Roosevelt said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” That’s what the Dekko Foundation and the Foellinger Foundation are doing with this grant opportunity. It’s an investment in the future productivity of the northeast Indiana regional workforce – one that should show visible results today and for years to come.