Malaika Receives $250,000 Challenge Grant from the Fotsch Family Foundation

Malaika Early Learning Center, a 5 star rated provider of early childhood education and care for infants through third graders, proudly announces a $250,000 challenge grant issued by the Fotsch Family Foundation to support the Professional Development Center in its expansion to ThriveOn King. In 2022, the ThriveOn Collaboration – a partnership of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Medical College of Wisconsin and Royal Capital, selected Malaika to be the provider of early childhood education and care as well as operate a Professional Development Center at ThriveOn King. The collaboration has been redeveloping the iconic Gimbels-Schuster’s Department store building at 2153 N. Martin Luther King Jr. into a new community hub called ThriveOn King as a central part of its place-based approach to fostering an equitable, healthy, and thriving community. During the collaboration’s many community visioning sessions to assess needs and opportunities for ThriveOn King, residents and stakeholders identified quality early childhood education and care as one of the top priorities.

The Foundation commissioned IFF (a regional thought leader) to create A Seat at the Table, a study of Milwaukee’s child care landscape and in 2019, found a need to improve access to affordable, culturally responsive early childhood education in the city. A follow-up study in 2020 looked closer at the three neighborhoods immediately surrounding ThriveOn King- Harambee, Brewers Hill and Halyard Park – and identified a specific need for infant and toddler child care in these communities.

The Professional Development Center will improve the knowledge of other child care providers in the surrounding community, 36 of which Malaika has identified to date. Malaika will create a relevant training curriculum and recruit local childcare providers to participate in professional development, at no cost. Participants will benefit from the opportunity to observe these best practices implemented onsite in the child care center Malaika will operate for infants through five year olds at ThriveOn King.

“The Fotsch Family Foundation is committed to raising the level of Early Childhood Education in Milwaukee and sees Malaika’s Professional Development Center at ThriveOn King as an integral part of the solution,” said the Fotsch family.

To expand to ThriveOn King, Malaika initiated a $1.3 million campaign to establish the Professional Development Center, purchase equipment and furniture, and subsidize operations. To date, Malaika has raised over $800,000. The Fotsch Family Foundation recently granted Malaika $250,000 outright, and issued a $250,000 matching grant for contributions to Malaika’s expansion to ThriveOn King. Any campaign donations will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $250,000 from now until February 28, 2024, by the Fotsch Family Foundation.

For more information and/or to donate to Malaika’s expansion to ThriveOn King, ThriveOn King Campaign « Malaika.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.