Help & FAQ
Questions, answered.
Everything you might want to know about scholarships, grants, giving, and how we operate. Can’t find your answer? We’re a message away.
Visit our Apply page and complete the Family Scholarship Application. It takes about ten minutes. We respond within 30 days, and everything you share is kept confidential and used only for award decisions.
Families with children (ages 0–18) in Cuyahoga County and surrounding communities with a demonstrated financial need or qualifying hardship. Awards support enrollment at quality-screened childcare and early-learning operators.
Always directly to your child’s tuition account at the named operator — never as cash to the family or the operator. This protects the integrity of the award and ensures the funds reach their intended purpose.
Yes. We are an Ohio nonprofit recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity, so gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. You’ll receive a receipt for your records.
We target 75–85% of spending directed to programs, with the remainder covering essential administration and fundraising. As a new foundation, first-year setup costs are higher; the program share grows as we scale.
Yes. Childcare operators, schools, and mission-aligned organizations can apply for educational technology, operational, capacity-building, and program grants on our Apply page.
Rigorously. Every director and officer discloses conflicts annually. Any decision involving a director’s related business or family is reviewed and approved only by independent directors with no personal stake, and documented in writing.
Additional safeguards apply: the connected director discloses the relationship, recuses from the decision entirely, and independent directors decide. The award terms cannot differ from those offered to any unaffiliated family.
You can give monthly, mail a check, grant from a donor-advised fund, give stock, set up a planned gift or bequest, or use employer matching. Contact us and we’ll help arrange any of these.
We’d welcome that. Reach out through our Contact page and tell us how you’d like to be involved — partnerships with operators, schools, and community organizations are central to our model.
Our initial focus is Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and surrounding communities. As resources and impact grow, our board may expand the service area.
Visit our Governance page. We publish key documents as they become available and provide our bylaws and policies on request.