Great Parents, Great Start Playgroup Schedule

October 15, 2025

Dear Community Partners & Families,

We are writing to share that the Great Start Collaborative of Menominee County has officially concluded its operations and will no longer continue its work or services as of November 4th. This is the result of an unexpected cut to Collaborative funding in the State of Michigan budget called “Early Childhood Block Grant/ 32P”, which eliminated support for these efforts without warning. 

Since its inception, the Great Start Collaborative (GSC) has been dedicated to ensuring that all children in Menominee County have a safe, healthy, and successful start in life for nearly two decades. Through data-driven initiatives and strong community partnerships, the Collaborative has utilized the Five Protective Factors: Social and Emotional Competence of Children, Knowledge of Parenting and Parent Development, Social Connections, Parental Resilience, and Concrete Support in times of Need to complete the work. The GSC work focused on the Michigan state-led directives:

  • All children are born healthy. GSC supported healthy beginnings through prenatal and early childhood initiatives. As the local grantee for Children’s Trust Michigan, we lead efforts including safe sleep education, distribution of sleep sacks for all newborns in Menominee County, and Pack ‘n Play donations for families in need. We hosted Community Baby Showers to connect new parents with local resources and advocate for improved Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment options for pregnant mothers. Additionally, GSC has helped strengthen communication between local hospitals and pediatricians, bridging key gaps across state lines.

  • Children are healthy, thriving, and developmentally on track from birth to third grade. To support children’s development, GSC created a Kids Cash Incentive Program that rewards positive and healthy experiences with printed coupons redeemable at local stores, restaurants, and businesses. This was made possible thanks to community partners at 15 distribution and 22 redemption sites located throughout Menominee County. We provided education on developmental milestones and connected families with pediatricians or the ISD when concerns arose. Our initiatives also included:

  • Funding more than 140 convertible free car seats for families in need. With an additional 200+ booster seats.
  • Creating a baby food pantry integrated with three existing food pantry sites.
  • Participating in the Help Me Grow pilot program to enhance outreach and one-on-one family support with Build Up Michigan.
  • Hosting Family Coalition meetings as safe spaces for parents to discuss community needs and help them advocate for their children.
  • Hosted numerous playgroups & Talking is Teaching themed playgroup packet pick-up over the winter months
  • For many years, we offered home-visiting parent support
    • Offering ACEs and HOPE presentations and screenings of the film Resilience to raise awareness about early trauma and healing.

    • Children are developmentally ready to succeed in school at Kindergarten entry. We prepared children for school by providing pediatricians with the Ages & Stages developmental screening tool and maintaining a Kindergarten Readiness Workgroup, including representatives from all school districts in Menominee County, as well as four additional community partners and parents. GSC also offered parent education series, both in-person and online, and supported Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) classrooms across the county. To improve family access to information, we established Welcome Centers in ten community locations, featuring resource boards and flyers for families. Additionally, the GSC offered numerous educational opportunities and resources to local daycares, collaborating closely with Great Start to Quality.

  • Children are proficient readers by the end of third grade. Through the Early Literacy Council, GSC united two previously separate library systems in Menominee County to strengthen early literacy efforts. Together, we hosted Reading Adventure Nights and other family events highlighting the Top 10 Early Literacy Essentials, held at local libraries and community sites such as the Abundant Life Homeless Shelter.

Since 2008, this council has sustained the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, mailing 97,778 books to children in Menominee County. As of October, 620 children—half of all children ages 0–5 in the county—are enrolled. Additional literacy efforts include:

  • Delivering 70+ book bins to local waiting rooms.
  • Maintaining two Children’s Little Free Libraries.
  • Creating and maintaining two Book Walks. One at Henes Park in Menominee and the other at Erickson Park in Stephenson.  Another one has also been purchased for northern Menominee County.
  • Distributing books at every community event the GSC attended.
  • Bookin’ Menominee County, hiding books at frequently visited areas throughout the county for children to find.
  • Leading the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program in Menominee County.
  • Distributing thousands of Talking is Teaching materials and parent education at all GSC events with the message that the more you talk, read, and sing with your child, the stronger their vocabulary, literacy skills, and bond with family will be.

We are incredibly proud of the work accomplished over the years and deeply grateful for the commitment of our community partners, families, and stakeholders. However, due to changes in funding and organizational priorities, none of the services, events, or programming previously coordinated by the Collaborative will continue at this time. The website (www.greatstartmenomineecounty.org) will also be taken offline in the near future.

While the Collaborative’s work has come to an end, we know that the importance of early childhood development remains. We encourage those who can continue supporting families and young children in whatever ways possible through your respective roles and organizations. 

Thank you for your support, collaboration, and shared commitment to our community’s youngest learners. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Menominee County ISD Superintendent Steve Martin directly.

If you are interested in advocating for future funding for the Great Start Collaborative within our county and across the state, don’t hesitate to reach out to our elected officials directly. 

Representative Dave Prestin, DavePrestin@house.mi.gov 

Senator Ed McBroom, senemcbroom@senate.mi.gov

Sincerely,
Sarah Hanson, Jennifer MacDonald, and Katie Sannes

“Goodbyes make you think. They make you realize what you’ve had, what you’ve lost, and what you’ve taken for granted.” -Ritu Ghatourey

Thank you to all the following organizations, funders, and volunteers.  We couldn’t have done this work without any of you.

Parent Members, Greater M&M YMCA, Great Start to Quality, North Central Area Public Schools, Carney-Nadeau Area Schools, Stephenson Area Public Schools, Menominee Area Public Schools, Northpointe Behavioral Services, CASA of Marinette & Menominee County, Public Health Delta & Menominee County, Head Start at MDS CAA, Menominee County Juvenile Probation, Tri-City United Way, Department of Health and Human Services, Menominee County Library, Spies Public Library, City of Stephenson, City of Menominee, Aurora Medical Center- Bay Area, Emplify Health, Marinette Menomine Community Foundation, Upper Great Lakes Community Health, WIC, Provident Health, St. Vincent de Paul, Hannahville Indian Community, Healthy Youth Coalition, Communities That Care Coalition, Early On, Birth to Three, Bay Area Pregnancy Services, Mid-County Ministerial Food Pantry, ISD Early Literacy Coaches, and Menominee Fire Department.  Please forgive us if anyone was missed in this list! We appreciate every one of you!