Help Finding Childcare Funding
Foundation First
Working Together to Bring Childcare Within Reach
Foundation First connects families, childcare providers, employers, and community partners across North Central Virginia with the guidance, resources, and support they need, so children get a strong start and no one has to navigate childcare alone.
Support for Local Providers
Local Resources and Connections
The Problem
When Childcare Is Out of Reach, Everyone Pays
A broken early childhood system leaves families and providers searching for help across disconnected programs, offices, and requirements. Families can miss funding while struggling to pay for care. Providers lose time chasing answers instead of supporting teachers. Employers lose dependable people when childcare falls through. Meanwhile, local organizations offer services families may never hear about.
Families and providers shouldn’t have to understand an entire system just to get support. When finding help depends on knowing the right person or program, too many children and families go without.
Guiding The Community
Childcare Is Complicated. Getting Help Shouldn’t Be.
You don’t need to know every program, funding rule, or agency before asking for help. Foundation First helps you understand your options and reach the people who can help. Across North Central Virginia’s 11 localities, we bring families, providers, employers, and community organizations together to identify gaps, share resources, and improve access to childcare, so every child has the opportunity to succeed and our communities grow stronger.
Lead agency for Ready Region North Central
Working across eleven localities in North Central Virginia
We administer Mixed Delivery funding for the region
The local connection for VQB5 quality measurement and improvement
Managing roughly five million dollars in federal and state grants
The Four Pathways
Wherever you're starting from
Foundation First connects families to funding, supports the people who run childcare programs, brings employers into the conversation, and helps improve the childcare community.
For Families
Help paying for childcare
You may be closer to funding than you think. We'll walk you through it, one step at a time.
See if you qualify
For Providers
Support to help grow your program
Help with recruitment, retention, and the administrative side of running a childcare business.
Get support
For Employers
Keep parents on your team
Childcare gaps cost you attendance and experienced staff. See how other employers are able to retain their valued employees.
Start the conversation
For Community Partners
Get listed in the directory
Families are looking for you. Get found, get listed, become part of the Foundation First trusted network.
Join the network
In Public Grants ~$5M Federal & state
Impact and Giving
Your Gift Supports Work Public Grants Can’t Cover
Public grants fund much of Foundation First’s work, but they don’t cover every need. Your gift can help pay for professional development beyond what current grants fund, so early childhood educators have more opportunities to strengthen their teaching and support the children in their care.
1,200+
Families connected to funding
340
Educators supported
8,500+
Children starting school ready
You deserve to know how your contribution can help. Explore the needs behind our fundraising and see how you can support early childhood education in your community.
See where your giving goes
From the Learning Hub
What we are working on
Guide
What subsidy money is available in Virginia right now
A plain-language walk-through of which programs are open, who they are meant for, and how to check without a stack of paperwork.
Read more
Story
How a small home program stayed open through the winter
One provider, a rural county, and the practical steps that kept the front door open when the numbers said otherwise.
Read more
Explainer
Reading a childcare funding letter without panicking
What each line actually means, what to do first, and the two things you never have to answer on the spot.
Read more
Family First Newsletter
Funding rules change, new programs are introduced, and deadlines come and go. We send one email a month informing you what's available and what it means for you. No jargon, and nothing you didn't ask for.
One email a month. Unsubscribe any time.
Start With
The Childcare Eligibility Checker.
Virginia has funding programs for families at many income levels. Our eligibility tracker walks you through a few quick questions and points you toward the programs most likely to help.
Partner Logos
We do this with
Lead Agency · Ready Region North Central
A coordinated early childhood system across eleven localities in North Central Virginia.
Ready Region North Central brings together local agencies, early childhood providers, and families to build a seamless, family-centered system. Our goal is to make it easier for every child and caregiver in our region to access the supports they need to thrive.
Learn more about Ready Region