Michigan Corporation Ensures a Great Start for the State’s Youngest Learners

Each year, a certain number of Michigan children enter kindergarten with previously unidentified health, social-emotional, or learning problems. To combat this problem, parents of young children across Michigan need easy access to information and resources in their communities that can help them in their role as their children’s first and most important teachers.

The Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC) was created in 2005 to help give every young child in Michigan the opportunity to arrive at kindergarten healthy, ready to succeed in school, and with parents who are committed to educational achievement. Accomplishing this important goal requires the combined efforts of parents, community leaders, businesses, the legislature, state and local government, faith-based organizations, and philanthropic organizations. The ECIC is uniquely positioned as a public corporation to bring these leaders together to help Michigan’s youngest citizens and their parents.

The ECIC provides funds for community leaders to work together as members of a Great Start Collaborative, to create the kinds of helpful information, services, and resources that parents want and need. The ECIC also seeks to bring together information about child, family, and community needs and to educate and advocate for policy changes that ensure the most efficient and effective use of all financial resources.

For more information, contact: Early Childhood Investment Corporation, 221 N. Pine St., Lansing, MI 48933, (517) 371-9000, info@ecic4kids.org or visit www.ecic4kids.org.

Source: Adapted from the Early Childhood Investment Corporation Web site, www.ecic4kids.org/history.cfm.