Building Bright Futures is excited to announce the recipients of our Vermont Early Childhood Fund (VECF) awards for 2025! The fund supports creative solutions that will improve the well-being of children from the prenatal period through age 8, their families, and the Vermont communities in which they live.
Thanks to these grants, awardees in every region of Vermont will be able to pursue important and innovative projects, including:
- Creating more than 180 early childhood care and education slots across the state
- Enhancing the capacity of early childhood programs to meet the needs of children with disabilities, behavioral challenges, and mental health needs including those impacted by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
- Improving access to healthy nutrition in early childhood programs
- Increasing access to professional development programs including the Family Service Credential, DIRFloortimeⓇ, Reggio Emilia pedagogy, equity-centered practices, gender-inclusive practices and identity-affirming support systems, trauma-informed and inclusive practices, and more
- Providing access to free breastfeeding/chestfeeding support, from pregnancy to weaning
- Expanding and improving early childhood literacy programs offered through libraries, bookmobiles, and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
- Increasing programming to support fathers of young children, including a program designed for incarcerated fathers
- Redistributing gently-used donated baby and toddler supplies to Vermont families in need through a referral-based system, community swap events, and mutual aid networks
- Improving access to medical care through a doula residency program, training on the most up-to-date perinatal mood disorder resources, and expanding a statewide initiative designed to support pediatric and perinatal medical providers in delivering high-quality mental health care to their patients
The VECF Opportunity Grant ($10,000 to $80,000) has the goal of supporting easy-to-achieve solutions with direct results. The 2025 Opportunity Grant recipients are:
- ABC Academy in Chittenden and Franklin Counties
- Addison County Parent Child Center in Addison County
- Burlington Children’s Space in Chittenden County
- Caledonia Central Supervisory Union in Caledonia and Washington Counties
- Christine Hertz Hausman LLC in Franklin, Lamoille, and Washington Counties
- Clara Martin Center in Orange County
- Empower Therapy in Chittenden County
- Essex Pediatrics Strengthening Families Initiative in Chittenden County
- The Family Garden in Windham County
- Fox Hollow Forest School in Rutland County
- Franklin Grand Isle Bookmobile in Franklin and Grand Isle Counties
- Georgia Public Library in Franklin County
- Green Mountain United Way in Washington County
- Hunger Free Vermont in Chittenden County
- Intentional Evolution in Chittenden County
- Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Washington County
- Laura Pascoe, LLC in Windsor County
- Maitri Healthcare for Women in Chittenden County
- Mary Johnson Children’s Center in Addison County
- Montpelier Children’s House in Washington County
- Northeast Kingdom Community Action in Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans Counties
- Northwestern Counseling and Support Services in Franklin County
- ONE Arts in Chittenden and Washington Counties
- Poker Hill School in Chittenden County
- Rutland County Head Start in Rutland County
- Rutland County Parent Child Center in Rutland County
- Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington County
- Special Needs Support Center of the Upper Valley in Windsor County
- Sunrise Family Resource Center in Bennington County
- Treehouse Children’s School in Windsor County
- Treesprouts Playhouse in Chittenden County
- Umbrella in Essex and Orleans Counties
- Vermont Connector in Chittenden County
- Vermont Consultation & Psychiatry Access Program, statewide
- Vermont Doula Company in Chittenden County
- Vermont Fatherhood in Washington County
- Vermont Folklife in Chittenden County
- Vermont Parent Child Center Network, statewide
- The Village School in Washington County
- Wild Strawberry Forest School in Windham County
- Wonder Roots in Chittenden County
VECF was established in 2021 thanks to a generous grant from a private donor and was able to continue to fund projects in 2022 and 2023 with support from the Sunflower Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation. VECF is currently funded by the Vermont Integration Project: Building Integration in Vermont’s Birth–5 Early Childhood Systems (VIP B–5) Preschool Development Grant. Thanks to this federal grant, VECF expanded its funding substantially this year, from $105,000 for projects carried out in 2023 to $8 million in grants awarded between December 2023 and July 2025. This is the fourth and final round of VECF funding under the PDG grant, which ends in December 2025.
