The Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne, in partnership with the Northeast Indiana Early Childhood Coalition (NEIECC) and Greater Fort Wayne Inc.’s Ready. Set. Grow. initiative, has launched the Childcare Bridge Fund Program to help working families maintain access to childcare while supporting providers facing financial strain.
The program responds to a growing childcare crisis that has left many Allen County families without access to childcare assistance and placed local childcare providers at risk of closure.
Since Indiana implemented a waitlist for the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) in November 2024, thousands of eligible families statewide have been unable to access childcare assistance. At the same time, childcare providers serving low-income families have experienced declining enrollment, reduced reimbursement levels, and increasing financial pressure, all of which threaten the availability of childcare across the community.
The Childcare Bridge Fund is designed to address both challenges.
Through the program, funding will be distributed to participating childcare providers serving eligible families in Allen County who are currently on the CCDF waitlist. By helping providers maintain enrollment and operations, the initiative aims to preserve childcare seats that might otherwise be lost and ensure families can continue working, pursuing education, and supporting their households.
“This initiative is about protecting one of the essential systems that allows our community to function,” said Alison Gerardot, Chief Impact Officer at the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne. “When families cannot access reliable childcare, it affects their ability to work, employers’ ability to fill jobs, and children’s opportunities to learn and thrive. At the same time, many childcare providers are facing unprecedented financial challenges. If providers close, those childcare seats disappear. The Childcare Bridge Fund is a targeted investment designed to help stabilize childcare access today while helping our community learn what long-term solutions may be needed tomorrow.”
The Community Foundation of Fort Wayne is funding the initiative with a Community Support Grant it received from Lilly Endowment Inc. The grant was made through Lilly Endowment’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) initiative. The Community Foundation chose to allocate grant dollars to the Childcare Bridge Fund to help Allen County families who are already eligible for childcare assistance but remain on the state’s CCDF waitlist.
Community leaders emphasize that the Childcare Bridge Fund is not an open public grant program.
Families do not apply directly through the Community Foundation. Instead, eligible families are identified through participating childcare providers and coalition partners. Funding is distributed directly to participating providers through NEIECC’s program administration.
The program is expected to support approximately 150 families and 30 to 40 childcare providers over its implementation period.
Executive Director and Founder of the Northeast Indiana Early Childhood Coalition Allie Sutherland said the program is designed to address a growing gap between the need for childcare and the resources available to support families and providers.
“Thousands of Indiana families qualify for childcare assistance but are unable to access it because of the CCDF waitlist,” said Sutherland.
“At the same time, providers serving those families are struggling financially and, in some cases, facing the possibility of closure. This program is designed to bridge that gap. By supporting providers, we’re helping preserve childcare access for families who depend on it and gathering valuable information that can help inform future solutions.”
Melissa Beber, Vice President of Business Advocacy at Greater Fort Wayne Inc., said access to affordable, reliable childcare is essential for working families and for the strength of the local workforce.
“The Childcare Bridge Fund will provide critical support to families who are caught in the gap while waiting for state-funded childcare assistance,” she said.
“Through our Ready. Set. Grow. initiative, Greater Fort Wayne Inc. is proud to support this effort by providing training for childcare providers and collecting data that will help us better understand the need and measure the program’s impact. This is an important step toward expanding access to affordable childcare, strengthening childcare providers, and helping more parents remain engaged in the workforce.”
The Childcare Bridge Fund reflects the Community Foundation’s commitment to advancing systems-level solutions that strengthen families, support workforce participation, and create long-term community impact.
The program aligns with the Community Foundation’s Let’s Rise! Vision Plan, particularly its Lifelong Learning, Everyone’s Economy, and Connected Community pillars. Over the course of the program, partners will evaluate outcomes, including the number of childcare seats preserved, providers stabilized, families able to maintain childcare continuity, and opportunities to inform future investments and policy discussions related to childcare affordability and accessibility.
For more information about the Childcare Bridge Fund Program, visit www.neiecc.org.