For Karen Bishop Morris, it’s important for all organizations to come together to make sure children feel supported educationally in Lake County.
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“We are not in competition with any other organization,” said Bishop Morris, who is the chief development and communications officer for Edgewater Health. “We want to find the best of the best and do what we can to … co-create, reinforce and execute the shared local action plan in our community.”
Indiana University Northwest hosted a roundtable discussion on the state’s childcare landscape, in partnership with the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance and Edgewater Health. My Brother’s Keeper was created by the Barack Obama Foundation to provide better opportunities for young men of color nationwide, according to its website.
The Obama Foundation created My Brother’s Keeper after the death of Trayvon Martin in February 2012.
The group has locations nationwide that advocate for education and childcare, including one in Lake County.
My Brother’s Keeper has about 80 members involved in Lake County, Bishop Morris said, and about 25 young men benefit from the program, representing Andrean High School, Bishop Noll Institute, West Side Leadership Academy, Thea Bowman Leadership Academy and Merrillville High School.
Ellen Szarleta, director of IUN’s Center for Urban and Regional Excellence, said Wednesday that it was “an honor” to host My Brother’s Keeper for the roundtable discussion, and childcare is an important issue statewide.
“It’s one that we can’t tackle alone,” Szarleta said. “Bringing all these forces together in one room is crucial, and this is what (My Brother’s Keeper) is doing to continue this conversation around childcare in Indiana. As a university, we recognize the critical importance of collaboration, specifically with community leaders, policymakers and researchers.”
According to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, a recent CNBC study ranked Indiana almost at the bottom for quality of life, with the worst access to childcare nationally.
During the 2025 Indiana legislative session, Senate Democrats wrote that they hoped to fully fund the Child Care Development Fund, a federal program that helps low-income families pay for child care, but by the end of session, the goal was not completed.
Lake County’s My Brother’s Keeper chapter not only advocates for better childcare statewide but better early childhood education.
Retired Pediatrician Dr. Steve Simpson hosted Wednesday’s roundtable discussion, speaking about how childcare and preschool can help prepare children to enter school and be ready to learn. Simpson is also founder of the Gary Literacy Coalition and passionate about reading, he said.
“You want to try reading with your kids,” Simpson said. “Reading good things with those kids is important.”
Simpson believes it’s important for parents to start prioritizing literacy at home before students start preschool or early education. Children learn habits from the environment they grow up in, Simpson said, and he encourages parents to display healthy habits at home.
Local organizations need to help encourage parents as well, Simpson said, including by providing books, affordable programs and financial assistance.
“I think Lake County is suffering from a lack of opportunity, a lack of funding,” Simpson said. “We’re here today to pass on information to you, but you can stimulate others to join us, to participate in this process, so we get children educated earlier.”
Former Gary Schools Corporation Superintendent Myrtle Campbell presented recommended next steps to better early childhood education in Lake County, including committing to early literacy, collaborating with the Head Start State Collaboration Office, building a strong early childhood education workforce, and expanding access to early childhood mental health consultants.
“We have a lot to work on,” Campbell said. “We’re trying to prepare our children for success. We know that we can do that from early childhood education — this just has to become a national conversation.”
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