The Educational Research Center for Child Development Awarded Three Grants

The Florida A&M University New Beginnings Educational Research Center for Child Development (NB-ERCCD) has received three different grant awards this year from three different funding sources.

“NB-ERCCD is very excited about all of the program enhancements that we anxiously anticipate completing for our families, staff and the FAMU community,” said Reva Myers, director of FAMU’s NB-ERCCD.

NB-ERCCD was awarded $10,000 for The Home Depot’s “Retool Your School” initiative. The competition, among historically black colleges and universities, was part of The Home Depot’s long-standing efforts in support of the black community. Grants were awarded to colleges and universities for school improvement projects. The panel of judges for this competition also scored and heavily weighted the narrative section of all the applicants.

NB-ERCCD intends to use The Home Depot’s funding to install outdoor playground lighting for the evening care program, enhance the outdoor learning environment and make interior building repairs and upgrades that promote energy conservation.

The second grant awarded, the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) initiative, is a multi-year grant awarded by the United States Department of Education (USDOE). The primary purpose of this grant is to provide incentives for attracting and retaining low-income students/parents that wish to pursue a post-secondary degree. Funding is used to subsidize the cost of childcare tuition fees for Pell grant students.

The CCAMPIS initiative also allows NB-ERCCD to plan and implement programs and activities that are based on low-income students/parents “needs assessments” and “customer satisfaction,” which were compiled from survey responses.

The Early Learning Coalition (ELC) of the Big Bend Region awarded the final grant. The ELC award will allow New Beginnings to establish an outdoor classroom that would extend the indoor classroom to a naturalistic environment. The outdoor classroom enhances children’s natural curiosity about nature, but allows children to engage in specifically designed developmentally appropriate learning activities that keep them actively involved and excited about learning.

The Center provides services for 93 families in the pre-school program and 20 families in the after-school program. The center is staffed by 17 well-trained individuals with operating hours from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for pre-school children, 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. for school age children and 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. for evening care students during fall and spring semesters.

For more information on FAMU’s New Beginnings, call (850) 599-3267.