Mardag Foundation Supports Supportive Housing and Early Child Care Programs

The Mardag Foundation's latest grants included support for several projects benefiting supportive housing and early child care programs in Minnesota.

The St. Paul-based foundation gave a $25,000 grant to the Corporation for Supportive Housing for implementation in the East Metro area of the State Plan to End Long Term Homelessness in Minnesota by 2010. Established in 1991, CSH was the first and remains the only national intermediary organization dedicated to building the supportive housing industry as a way to end chronic homelessness. This grant will help CSH support a variety of projects and help pay for staff to increase awareness and gain support for the plan.

Fergus Falls Community Child Care Center received a $30,000 grant from the foundation to help expand the center to include the addition of infant care services. Established in 1971, the center is the only licensed child care center in Fergus Falls and Otter Tail County, serving primarily low-income children ages 16 months to 12 years with full time and drop-in daycare services. This grant will help the center with expansion expenses and debt relief, allowing it to begin serving infants ages six weeks to 16 months by October 2005.

The foundation also made a $50,000 grant to Wee-Care Children’s Center, Clearwater, to help finance construction of a new facility. Wee-Care is a licensed early childhood program serving primarily low-income children from Clearwater, Beltrami and Polk counties as well as the White Earth Reservation. The grant will help Wee-Care lower its mortgage payments by buying down the principal of the loan. Construction will be completed on the new facility by December 2005.

In total, the Mardag Foundation’s board of directors approved 30 grants totaling $774,630.