The University of Notre Dame has received a $3.7 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. in support of the Robinson Community Learning Center (RCLC) and its Talk With Your Baby program.

The grant will be used to scale and expand the parent education program based on four key objectives:

• Expand the existing parent curriculum from a single module of eight lessons to four modules with a total of 32 lessons delivered in English and Spanish.

• Develop a parallel curriculum specifically for early care providers and those responsible for preparing and licensing early care providers in both English and Spanish.

• Grow the program regionally through expansion into neighboring Elkhart, Marshall and La Porte counties, and across the state through the early care provider program.

• Develop a robust online platform to complement in-person learning.

The lump-sum grant is the largest ever awarded to the RCLC, significantly enhancing its capacity for community outreach within the context of the University’s strategic framework.

“We are deeply grateful for Lilly Endowment’s support of the Robinson Community Learning Center’s Talk With Your Baby program to promote language development for our youngest neighbors,” said Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. “We know that investing in early childhood programs can have a profound impact on children’s future learning outcomes. We are delighted to collaborate with local partners to expand access to these critically important resources.”

Managed by the RCLC since 2013, Talk With Your Baby educates parents and caregivers on the importance of frequent interaction with children through talking, reading and singing from birth to age 3.

Studies increasingly underscore the importance of such interactions for bonding, brain structure and function, language development, reading readiness and social and emotional development.

“From the outset, the RCLC has been committed to preK-12 and parent education as part of a holistic approach to early childhood development ... This commitment is part of a broader focus on the entire South Bend-Elkhart region, and is only possible through the generous support of individuals and organizations like Lilly Endowment and Early Learning Indiana.”

Classes cover a variety of topics and tips for new and expecting parents and are available in both English and Spanish.

“Thanks to Lilly Foundation’s ongoing support, the Talk With Your Baby program can expand its vitally important work of bolstering language development in young children,” said Susan Devetski, director of the RCLC. “Adults interacting meaningfully with young children promotes the development of essential language skills, nurtures social and emotional development and puts young children on the path to success in school. This grant will allow us to give more parents and caregivers in the South Bend-Elkhart area and beyond a playbook that they can use with their children to develop their young brains.”

This is the second major grant for Talk With Your Baby in as many years.

In 2023, Early Learning Indiana, with support from Lilly Endowment, awarded $500,000 to the RCLC to expand the program in partnership with the city of South Bend and other local stakeholders.

The grant, which was part of Early Learning Indiana’s Early Years Initiative, allowed the RCLC to hire a full-time coordinator and two part-time parent educators for the program, and to expand participation in the program from 125 to 400 parents annually.

Early Learning Indiana also supports the RCLC’s preschool program.

“From the outset, the RCLC has been committed to preK-12 and parent education as part of a holistic approach to early childhood development,” said Tim Sexton, associate vice president for public affairs at Notre Dame. “This includes Talk With Your Baby as well as a variety of multilingual after-school, evening and summer tutoring and enrichment programs, robotics and theater programs, and a high-quality preschool program geared toward fostering the social, emotional, physical, cognitive and creative development of every child. This commitment is part of a broader focus on the entire South Bend-Elkhart region, and is only possible through the generous support of individuals and organizations like Lilly Endowment and Early Learning Indiana.”

As a trusted local provider of early childhood care and resources, the RCLC partners with local organizations to deliver Talk With Your Baby to hundreds of parents and caregivers annually, with a focus on reading, emotional coaching and other aspects of good parenting.

Parents and caregivers learn to use books as a medium for imaginative interaction, verbal exploration, vocabulary building, receptive and expressive language skills, and emotional closeness, leading to better achievement in reading, school, relationships and other aspects of learning and life.

Building on the important work of the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health, Talk With Your Baby was originally established as an initiative of Memorial Health Foundation, now Beacon Health Foundation, in 2009.

Since then, more than 3,000 parents and caregivers have participated in the program, along with more than 150 facilitators, the majority of them trained by the RCLC. More than 22,000 books have been distributed through the program.

The RCLC is an off-campus educational initiative of Notre Dame in partnership with Northeast Neighborhood residents, offering a variety of programs for children and adults as well as classes, clubs and lectures for seniors.

For more information, visit rclc.nd.edu.

Originally published by Erin Blasko at news.nd.edu on January 16, 2025.