ECFC October 2024 Partner Spotlights

—ECFC October 2024 Partner Spotlights—

Los Angeles Medical–Financial Partnership (MFP)

The Medical-Financial Partnership (MFP) program connects families with supports and services to directly address financial hardship as a fundamental health risk and social determinant of health for children and the adults they will become.  The MFP program partners include Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Pediatrics, UCLA Department of Pediatrics, LIFT-Los Angeles, and the families they serve. The MFP goal is to establish and sustain a multi-sector, family-centered, parent-driven pediatric care innovation model and ecosystem reducing experiences of scarcity and supporting family relational health and social emotional development across sites in the second largest public health system in the US. The MFP has demonstrated improvements in mental health of parents and improvement in household income by $750/month after 6 months and $830/month after 12 months. The program uses social workers in pediatric primary care to help families navigate their financial and medical goals side-by-side as a path to improved well-being.

  • Monique Holguin, UCLA Medical-Financial Partnership Co-Director
  • Adam Schickedanz, UCLA Medical-Financial Partnership Co-Director
  • Grantee partner of Pediatrics Supporting Parents

Spotlight Handout

Related Read: Pediatrics Support Parents Proof Point Communities

The Bridge Project

An unconditional cash program during the first 1,000 days of a baby’s life, giving mothers up to $1,000 a month for three years, no strings attached.  Launched in New York City, and scaled to all five New York City boroughs, the project has expanded to Rochester, Buffalo, Milwaukee and Connecticut, and is soon expanding to Appalachia. A project of The Monarch Foundation.

  • Laura Clancy, Executive Director, The Bridge Project
  • Lisa Chin, The Bridge Project - Parent Partner
  • A program of The Monarch Foundation

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Related Read: Chronicle of Philanthropy article on Bridget Project outcomes, Feb 2023.

The CASH Campaign of Maryland (Creating Assets, Savings and Hope)

Promotes economic advancement for low-to-moderate income individuals and families in Baltimore and across Maryland.  CASH accomplishes its mission through operating a portfolio of direct service programs, building organizational and field capacity, and leading policy and advocacy initiatives to strengthen family economic stability, including administering the Baltimore Young Families Success Fund (BYFSF), in partnership with the City of Baltimore, a guaranteed income pilot program for young parents (ages 18-24).

  • Robin McKinney, Co-Founder and CEO, Cash Campaign
  • Tonaeya Moore, Director of Policy, Cash Campaign
  • Grantee partner of The Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund

Spotlight Handout

Related: CASH Campaign Impact At-A-Glance

Community Development Alliance (CDA) of Milwaukee

An independent 501(c)(3) charitable organization governed by dedicated Milwaukeeans committed to advancing racial equity by providing a quality affordable home to every Milwaukeean, prioritizing equitable homeownership for Black & Latino Families.  Their programs include an initiative to build 40 new single family homes near ECE providers to support Early Educator Home Ownership.

  • Teig Whaley-Smith, CDA Chief Alliance Executive
  • Grantee partner of American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Responsibility

Spotlight Handouts:

Employment Equity for Single Moms

A program of the Mississippi Low Income Child Care Initiative, focuses on improving women’s economic security in Mississippi by making child care affordable for low-income working moms, and achieving gender and racial equity in the workforce and making the safety net work for women.  EESM helps single mothers in Mississippi connect to the resources they need to find higher-paying jobs in their local area. Ultimately, our goal is to help every single mother earn a livable wage and become more financially secure.

  • Belinda Thornton, MILICCI Southcentral MS Works Case Manager
  • Jasmine Morris, Employment Equity for Single Moms – Parent Partner
  • A grantee partner of the Raising Child Care Fund

Related Watch: Helping Mississippi Moms Thrive (4min 47 secs)

Footbridge for Families

Provides rapid financial support to families facing short-term financial crises which have no other solution. Founded in 2020 after winning a Pittsburgh-based social innovation challenge, the organization has filled in the gap and prevented a crisis for over 1,000 families in Pennsylvania to date. Our organization harnesses partnerships with frontline professionals such as doctors and home visitors to identify families in need and makes payments to third-party organizations on their behalf as quickly as necessary. This unique approach strengthens the relationship between our referral partners and clients with 88% of our clients reporting that they are more likely to engage with and attend appointments with the referring organization after receiving assistance. It also dramatically improves outcomes for families on the brink of a crisis with 79% reporting that Footbridge’s financial aid is still making a difference in their families’ financial situation six months later.

  • Kim Eckel, CEO, Footbridge to Families

Related: Case Stories

Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services, The Nest

The first guaranteed income program designed exclusively to serve exclusively serve Indigenous communities in the United States, serving American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian and Pacifica families in Puget Sound (Washington) area.  Over the next five years the Nest will give $1250 no-strings-attached monthly payments to 150 Indigenous pregnant people until their child’s third birthday. This equates to up to $45,000 for a family participating from the birth of their child until they turn three.

  • Lacey Warrior, Nest Program Manager, HIFS
  • Tia Yazzie, Abundance Auntie, HIFS
  • Grantee partner of Perigee Fund

Spotlight Handout

Coming soon: Hummingbird Storytelling Series (Funded by partners at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation).

LIFT

Poverty, like wealth, is passed down from generation to generation. And decades of racial inequity and underinvestment in our communities have kept families trapped in a cycle. Our mission is to break that cycle by investing in parents. We build families’ well-being, financial strength, and social connections to lift two generations at once.  LIFT's holistic economic coaching model partners with parents of young children. Through differentiated support, parents set their own goals to increase income, improve career trajectories, and/or obtain a degree or certification to meet those goals. LIFT provides wrap-around support and direct cash infusions for parents to navigate challenges and maintain momentum on their path toward economic mobility. It's a unique, evidence-based replicable approach primed for expansion to new early educational settings.

  • Michelle Rhone-Collins, CEO, Los Angeles, CA
  • Sarah Spunt, Executive Director, Chicago LIFT

 Related Read: Building Bridges, LIFT’s latest Annual Report highlights how we've evolved while staying true to our highest aspiration and promise — breaking generational cycles of poverty.

Magnolia Mother’s Trust

The first-of-its-kind guaranteed income project supporting low-income families led by Black mothers, providing $1,000 per month for 12 months with no strings attached to Black mothers residing in subsidized housing in Jackson, MS.  

  • Sarah Stripp, Program Director of Socioeconomic Well-Being, Springboard to Opportunities
  • Djuanaita Johnson, Magnolia Mother's Trust – Parent Partner
  • Grantee partner of the Raising Child Care Fund.

Guaranteed Income Spotlight introduction by Sarah Stripp

Related:

  • Watch: How Guaranteed Income Can Improve Live in Jackson, MS, 3min28sec)
  • Read: Springboard to Opportunities, Holistic Prosperity (18pgs), an abundance-based framework to develop programs and systems that are grounded in trust, equity and belief that all people deserve a life of dignity.  Based on six years of The Magnolia Mother’s Trust. Explores how families define prosperity, and what holistic prosperity looks like including: financial stability; time autonomy; dynamic wellbeing; and social capital.

Montana Budget and Policy Center

Provides in-depth research and analysis on budget, tax, and economic issues to advance responsible tax, budget, and economic policies, and advocates for policies to ensure that everyone can share in the state's prosperity.  MBPC is home to many important coalitions focused on child and family economics, including a Paid Leave Coalition and Montana Advocates for Children, and a partner of Montana KidsCount.  MBPC works with tribal governments, advocacy groups, and community members to inform the policymaking process and ensure that state policies honor the political status of tribal nations. And in their partnerships and coalitions, they seek to engage, include, and elevate the voices of those sometimes left out of conversations about economic policies, including women, seniors, people with disabilities, American Indians, and families living on low incomes.

  • Heather O'Loughlin, Executive Director, MBPC
  • Grantee partner of: Erin Switalski, Program Director, Headwaters Foundation

Thriving Providers Project

A project of Home Grown Child Care, works with regional partners to provide direct cash payments to Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) caregivers and newly licensed Family Child Care (FCC) home providers. Selected home-based child care providers/caregivers will receive direct cash payments for one year or more, and receive peer and professional support that reduces isolation, increases access to other resources and builds wealth.

  • Natalie Renew, Executive Director, Home Grown
  • Carmen Reeves, Thriving Providers – Child Care Provider, Philadelphia, PA

Spotlight Slide Deck

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