Epiphany Center has long been a place where women can participate in residential recovery services while keeping their young children by their side. Keeping families together not only increases the likelihood that the mother will complete and sustain her recovery journey but also ensures her children receive essential developmental support during this pivotal time.

Historically, our facilities have been able to care for 15 children at any one time and only between the ages of zero (0) and three (3) years. A long-time dream of ours has been to expand our childcare facilities so that we can increase the number of children we can have in our care as well as increase the amount of time those children can stay with us - greatly increasing their long-term developmental success.

To make this dream a reality, over the last two years, we proudly secured competitive grant funding from the Low Income Investment Fund and CAL Fire to support the expansion of our Early Childhood Education Center. The project will nearly triple the number of children we can support from 15 to 44 via our first ever Pre-K program, 4 additional classrooms, and a 17,450 square-foot learning and play green schoolyard.

The new green schoolyard is part of CAL FIRE’s initiative to not only expand nature-inspired play spaces but also reduce greenhouse emissions in childcare centers across California. Led by the Department of Early Childhood (DEC) and the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), the initiative’s play spaces seek to further children’s connection with nature and provide safe, enriching, and stimulating settings to develop skills and curiosity while fostering a love for the outdoors. This program will revitalize the outdoor spaces of 30 of San Francisco’s early learning programs and we are thrilled to have been chosen to be included in CAL FIRE’s plan. Upon completion, Epiphany will have a beautiful, nature-filled outdoor space meant to inspire and support nature-based child education and meaningful outdoor learning, movement, and imaginative play.

The project has been broken into two phases:

• Phase 1: The renovation of our already onsite toddler classroom to accommodate a classroom that will host our inaugural Pre-K program and will accommodate 16 children.

• Phase 2:

  • (A)The renovation of our existing 5,280 square-foot modular building to a new infant/toddler center that will increase our infant/toddler program census from 15 to 28 children. These upgrades will include the green schoolyard along with the addition of four more classrooms, a teacher support center, a prep kitchen, a communal area, laundry, and storage.

  • (B) The transformation of 17,450 square feet of play area to include new plantings and gardens for experiencing nature and inviting pollinators, new trees, logs and tree stumps for climbing, bug hotels, sand pits, mud kitchens, and natural loose parts for creative and imaginative play. The designs were developed with educators and administrators to support educational goals and sustain outdoor learning opportunities over time. In addition to the physical transformations, LIIF provides one year of professional development and technical assistance for all the teachers on best practices in nature-based early childhood education to prepare them for meaningful outdoor learning.

We are thrilled to announce that we have already completed Phase 1 of the expansion and have moved our current toddlers to this space to facilitate Phase 2 - the renovation of our modular building and green schoolyard. The renovation began this August and is expected to be completed in April 2025. We are all really looking forward to its completion at which time we will be able to open our Pre-K program and begin to help that many more families build brighter futures.

Funding Provided By

Funding for this project was provided by the Governor and Legislature from the 2022/2023 General Fund allocation for Extreme Heat and/or Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for California Climate Investments as administered by the as administered by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) Urban and Community Forestry Program.

LIIF strengthens the Early Childhood Education sector through grantmaking and technical assistance to build, expand and/or renovate facilities. Everyone in the United States should benefit from living in a community of opportunity, equity, and well-being. LIIF mobilizes capital and partners to achieve this vision for people and communities. Everybody deserves affordable childcare. Right from the start, childcare providers join families as our young ones’ first teachers. No matter their ZIP code, every child deserves to be set off on a path to success, and that starts with affordable early care and education.

Would you like to help families build brighter futures?
A donation today - no matter the size - can help ensure we can continue to offer our life-saving programs.