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Business and Economic News
Mathew Holding Eagle III
Bemidji, Minn.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation awards $3.4 million to nonprofits statewide for child care and early education 

building on street corner
The Northwest Minnesota Foundation in Bemidji is one of six local nonprofits in Greater Minnesota to receive Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation grants.
Courtesy of Northwest Minnesota Foundation

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The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation recently awarded more than $3.4 million to go toward programming that supports child care and early education. Sixteen local nonprofits from around the state received the grants, ranging from $22,500-$150,000.

Bukata Hayes is the chair of the Blue Cross Foundation board, and vice president of racial and health equity and chief equity officer at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. He says studies show a child’s first five years set the stage for lifelong health.

“There’s research that shows that children who have access to quality childhood care and education achieve higher levels of education, have increased employment and income in adulthood, decreased crime and incarceration rates, have lower BMI and rates of obesity and a host of other things,” he said.

man in suite smiles for photo
Bukata Hayes is the vice president for racial and health equity and the chief equity officer at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. He said the organization’s mission is to build strong community partnerships to advance racial and health equity across the state.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota

According to Hayes, Minnesota has some of the highest child care costs in the nation. 

Six of the grant recipients are nonprofits in Greater Minnesota, including the Northwest Minnesota Foundation in Bemidji. It will receive $200,000 over the next two years.

NWMF child care senior program manager, Missy Okeson, said the funds will go toward supporting the Step Up program. It is a collaboration with Peacekeeper Resources to provide tools and resources for area child care providers to address prejudice, stereotyping, bias and inclusion in their programs. One of the program’s main goals is to lower early childhood expulsions, which are often seen as a barrier toward racial equity.

“Children are going to have a consistent level of learning, of learning social-emotional behavior, of learning mental health help,” Okeson said. “So, everybody will be on the same page, using the same language, the same techniques, the same strategies and helping children develop a little bit better in the social-emotional area.”