Estes Park is a beautiful place to live, but it can be a challenging place to raise a family. The tourism-based economy depends on a workforce, many of whom are parents working hard to provide for their family so that they can stay in the community.

There is a childcare shortage throughout Larimer County, but Estes Park has long struggled to maintain adequate childcare and other services working families need.

Estes Valley Investment in Childhood Success (EVICS) believes that every child deserves a great start, no matter where he or she lives, and that every family needs support to be successful. Their mission is to improve and expand access to early childhood services and provide parent education so parents understand child development and gain the skills to be the first and best teachers for their children.

With funding from United Way of Larimer County through an Innovation Grant, EVICS will become one of only two Family Resource Centers in the County, offering additional programming to provide comprehensive, wrap-around support for families and connections to resources while maintaining its focus on early childhood services.

"As a Family Resource Center, we will provide more comprehensive wrap-around services for families, connect them to vital resources in our community, build relationships with families, set goals and help them succeed," said Nancy Almond, Executive Director for EVICS. "A Family Resource Center is not about supporting families with handouts, it's about strengthening families with support."

As a Family Resource Center, EVICS staff will receive training that will help them be more effective and will provide them with a network of other communities with which to share best practices. They will also have access to a database to better track families' progress and funding that will expand resources for children and families in the Estes Park community.