Birth to Five Awards Grants to West-Central Illinois Groups

February 12, 2026

Original coverage in the Jacksonville Journal-Courier by Bridgette Fox (subscription required).

Each of several west-central Illinois groups have received a $12,500 grant to expand local early learning and care opportunities, which are in the "early stages" of development.

Birth to Five Illinois, which supports and helps develop local early childhood programs across the state, handed out the 2026 Planning Grants.

"We define a Local Early Childhood Collaboration as community partners like caregivers, small business owners, and educators, working as a collective to improve local early learning and care opportunities for families," according to the organization. "Through these funding opportunities, Birth to Five Illinois is encouraging a systems-level approach to improving early childhood education and care and increasing enrollment in (those) programs and services."

The region's recipients include Coles County Child Care Collaboration, Jersey-Calhoun Early Childhood Collaboration and Pike County Child Care Task Force.

“Illinois has so many strong local groups working to create nurturing communities for young children,” said Angela Hubbard-Fragozo, Birth to Five Illinois’ grants and relationship manager. “By investing locally in the groups coordinating services to improve the early childhood system, we maximize the impact on children and families.” 

For more information about the grants, visit BirthtoFiveil.com/funding.