Mini Grants Help Area Child Care Programs Meet Needs of Children

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Johnstown, PA (March 12, 2026) – Child care is a challenging business with high stakes and razor thin operating margins. Children’s brains develop most rapidly in the first five years, with 90% of development happening before entering kindergarten. That’s why quality child care is so critical. And yet, early learning is grossly underfunded, with most of the price tag coming out of the pockets of parents. Child care providers carefully balance program expenses with keeping costs affordable for families.

For many child care providers, extras simply aren’t on the shopping list. But a three-year effort by The Learning Lamp made some of those extras possible. With funding from an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) POWER grant, the organization provided mini grants to new and existing child care providers across the region, giving them a chance to invest in program quality, better support children, and expand access to child care.

Grants of up to $1,000 each were given to 57 child care programs across Blair, Bedford, Cambria, Somerset, Fayette, and Westmoreland counties. Providers, most of whom are members of the Early Childhood (EC) Alleghenies Shared Services Alliance, used the funds to purchase playground equipment, curriculum, outdoor items like fencing and sunshades, and classroom equipment like shelves, center supplies, and cabinets.

The grant program also assisted five providers with start-up expenses, preparing their programs for licensing and opening day. Here are some examples of the impact of this $57,000 investment in the region’s early childhood system:

• New Hope Child Care, Scottdale, Westmoreland County: The grant allowed the center to create separate spaces for age groups, ensuring children were in developmentally appropriate settings while still being easily supervised by staff.
• Top Notch Prep Academy, Somerset, Somerset County: The funding was used toward the installation of surveillance cameras and door security system for the new center. “I extend my heartfelt gratitude for any assistance as I strive to support families in facilitating early education for their little ones,” the director shared.
• Footprints Academy, Connellsville, Fayette County: The grant enabled the program director to supplement wages during startup. The owner stated, “I have taken no salary for a year trying to get this place going. I honestly could cry. It gives me the motivation to keep going and provide the best care to the children at our center!”
• The Owls Nest, Bedford, Bedford County: The grant funded new gates for classrooms and improved sound reduction in the walls of younger toddler rooms. The changes fostered a more conducive learning atmosphere for toddlers, allowing them to focus better without the distractions from the front door, while also enhancing safety.

EC Alleghenies is an Early Childhood Education (ECE) shared services network managed by The Learning Lamp that supports the region’s early learning community. Members include 109 center- and family-based child care providers operating 196 sites in 19 counties. Together, they serve more than 9,000 children and employ nearly 1,800 workers. Membership is free. Available services include fingerprinting, early childhood mental health consultation, professional development and career pathways, lesson plans and curriculum support, developmental screenings, staff recruiting and human resources consultation, fundraising help, Child and Adult Care Food Program assistance, and first aid and CPT certification.

For more information about The Learning Lamp, visit thelearninglamp.org. To learn about EC Alleghenies and its services, visit ecalleghenies.org.

The Learning Lamp is a nonprofit organization with a mission to engage all children in the support they need to succeed. We deliver high-quality programs that are affordable and accessible to families of all income levels. In 2024, The Learning Lamp and our school-based division, Ignite Education Solutions, directly served 43,056 children and adults. In addition, we worked with 87 public and private schools in 17 Pennsylvania counties and supported 503 child care and community-based organizations with free or nearly free shared resources, positively impacting another 53,384 children in 55 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.

Our programs include: child care and preschool, after-school programs, tutoring, SAT prep, school staffing, alternative education programs for at-risk students, online learning, credit recovery, drug and alcohol prevention programs, and grant writing and project consulting for schools.