Early Childhood Equity Fund

The Early Childhood Equity Stewardship Fund was established to ensure that all children succeed.

Your generous donation to The Early Childhood Equity Stewardship Fund helps build a community where all chidlren can flourish.

When our children succeed, our community thrives. Research shows that 90% of a child's brain development occurs in the first five years of life. Early experiences and relationships build the foundation for future learning, good health, and life success. When our children 0-5 have this strong base for learning and growth, everyone in our community benefits.

Many children and families in our community do not have access to the critical building blocks of a healthy foundation. Disparities in our community impact who benefits from services such as high quality prenatal care, child care, and early childhood education.

When you donate to The Early Childhood Equity Stewardship Fund, you have a hand in ensuring that our children have a great start in life and that their families thrive.

About the Fund

The Early Childhood Equity Stewardship Fund ensures that children of all races and socio-economic status flourish. The Fund provides critical funding to First 5 Monterey County and its partners to:

• Prepare children 0-5 start school ready to learn;
• Support parents with additional skills and resources to promote their children's growth and development; and
• Provide providers and systems leaders with the training and experiences they need to center diversity and equity in all that they do. 

To make a donation, visit the The Early Childhood Equity Stewardship Fund at the Community Foundation for Monterey County.

Relationships Matter: Infant Family Early Childhood Mental Health Training

One example of how a donation to the The Early Childhood Equity Stewardship Fund makes a difference in our community, is through the First 5 Monterey County Infant Family Early Childhood Mental Health Training Series. Through the training we provide racially and culturally responsive workshops to a variety of providers in a variety of sectors (legal/judicial, public health, social services, and early childhood education). The trainings include how to foster resilience and mitigate trauma with children and families. Award-winning trainers provide sessions in English and Spanish. The trainings include the following principles: healthy relationships are key; inclusion of providers from any discipline or system of care who work with children and their families makes a difference; and collaboration across teams and systems is essential. Completion of the requisite hours of training and support allows participatns to be recognized by the state with official endorsements. Support for these services is crucial as First 5 Monterey County dips into reserves to meet the demand.

"Good mental health is not the absence of trauma or the absence of hardship, but the capacity to make sense of it. That foundation being laid for those very young children and babies and families is critical."

- Relindis Diaz, Infant Family Early Childhood Mental Health Training participant and Monterey County Behavioral Health Services Manager II

Let's Raise Monterey Together!

Watch the video below from the 2020 First 5 Monterey County Monterey County Gives! Campaign.