ECHO Fund Grants
The Early Childhood Opportunity (ECHO) Fund is an innovative grant program that seeks to increase access to high-quality early care and education for New Orleans children, birth through age four, by directly funding early child care centers.
Past ECHO Fund Grant Opportunities
The Spring 2022 Hurricane Ida Relief ECHO Fund was made possible through the fundraising efforts of the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children and Agenda for Children. Through the generosity of private donors, Save the Children, Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Entergy, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation, this fund will provide one-time small financial relief grants to Type I, Type II, Type III early learning centers and CCAP-registered family child care homes located in parishes that experienced significant damages due to Hurricane Ida. The grant application was open from February 3rd – February 11th, 2022. The grant term concluded on Tuesday, March 31st, 2022.
Questions?
Contact The NOEEN Team at echofund@agendaforchildren.org.

Educator
Olayeela “Mama O” Daste is a lifelong educator and learner who started Child Care Resource and Referral in 1989, and worked at Agenda for Children until her retirement in 2018. Generations of early care and educators benefited from her leadership, wisdom and gentle belief in doing what’s right for kids. She co-led the Umoja Committee for many years, organizing Children’s Kwanzaa and an annual Celebration of the African American Child.
Since 2018, Agenda for Children has provided nearly $2M in sub-grants to centers and nonprofits through our ECHO Fund for stabilization supports, quality improvements, and innovative projects.