Clayton County Vision for Tomorrow Endowment

Success Story

After twenty years of building stronger communities, we’re celebrating our history of impact to inspire generosity for a brighter tomorrow in Clayton County. Momentum around our initiatives and increasing needs expressed by local nonprofits were a signal that we needed to grow our endowment to address challenges today and plan for tomorrow.

In 2024, we were approved for a Small-town Dreams Initiative Challenge Grant through the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque. In just over a year, thanks to many generous individuals, families, organizations and businesses, we have surpassed our $450,000 endowment building goal, capturing $75,000 from an anonymous donor. These efforts to build the Clayton County Vision for Tomorrow Endowment will provide an additional $20,000+ annually to serve Clayton County through grants and special initiatives. That means more funding for the local organizations that make our communities wonderful places to live.

Our leadership team, made up of current and former Foundation board members, will make funding decisions through our competitive grant cycle to projects that promote strong, vibrant communities and improve local quality of life.

Additionally, as the campaign reached its fundraising milestones, it earned $25,000 in cash from the anonymous donor to grant out to spark projects that would not otherwise be possible. The Foundation elected to use the $15,000 cash from the phase one milestone to support the Clayton County Imagination Library as well as area nonprofit child care providers.

“Through our recent countywide child care assessment, we learned of many challenges and opportunities to support providers,” says Emily Sadewasser, the Foundation’s executive director. “We are excited to be able to provide immediate funding to support their important work.”

The Foundation awarded eight $1,500 grants to day care centers across the county, including:
Elkader Child Care and Learning Center to purchase training credits for staff members to attain the Child Development Associate (CDA) certification.
Kinderwood Child Care Center for a new playground.
Postville Child Care Services to fund Iowa Quality For Kids training for staff.
Kids Kampus to support an expanded outdoor reading/educational area, including raised flower beds, outdoor seating and gardening material.
Garnavillo Community Day Care Center for phase 2 of its building update, which will provide more classroom and play space.
Little Bulldog Childcare to fund recruitment and retention bonuses and staff training.
Dr. Clifford C. Smith Childcare to fund recruitment and retention bonuses.
Berry Tender Childcare to support a renovation project, which includes improvements to its 2-year-old, 3- to 4-year-old, and school age rooms.

The $10,000 cash from the phase two milestone is being used to hire a coordinator to steward the countywide child care strategic plan that resulted from a 2023 assessment led by the Foundation to address community child care challenges.

Thank you to the donors and partners who supported these efforts to build a brighter tomorrow in Clayton County. Your care and generosity will help our community thrive for generations to come.