Building a Stronger Future Together: Kelly Horn’s Journey to First Choice Support Services

Building a Stronger Future Together: My Journey to First Choice Support Services

Sometimes the best opportunities in life come from changes we never expected. My journey to becoming the Executive Director of First Choice Support Services, Inc. is one of those opportunities. It has been a journey about friendship, shared goals, and finding a way to make CACFP stronger for the daycare home providers we serve.

My name is Kelly Horn, and on October 1, 2026, I had the privilege of becoming the Executive Director of First Choice Support Services, Inc. I am excited about this new chapter and grateful for the opportunity to bring more than 30 years of experience in foodservice and child nutrition, including many years working with the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).

For the past 14 years, I have served as the Executive Director of Sunshine Connections, Inc., a CACFP sponsorship serving family child care homes in Kansas. During those years, I have had the opportunity to work closely with providers, help them understand CACFP requirements, provide training and resources, and build relationships with the people who care for and feed children every day.

One thing I have learned through the years is that daycare home providers work incredibly hard. They are caring for children, planning and preparing meals, grocery shopping, keeping records, communicating with parents, meeting licensing requirements, and running their own small businesses. They deserve a CACFP sponsor who understands those challenges and is there to support them.

How It All Came Together

My path to First Choice Support Services began through my relationship with Mindy Davis-Graybeal, the longtime Executive Director of First Choice. Mindy and I have both spent many years working with CACFP and supporting daycare home providers. As we talked about the future, we began discussing how our two programs could work together.

We quickly realized that we shared the same goals: We wanted providers to feel supported and valued. We wanted them to have knowledgeable people they could call when they had questions. We wanted to provide good training and resources and make CACFP as understandable and manageable as possible.

Most importantly, we wanted to build something stronger for the future.

Bringing the two programs together gave us the opportunity to combine our experience, knowledge, and resources. Instead of simply looking at this as a change in organizations, we saw it as an opportunity to build a stronger CACFP program for the providers and children we serve.

We wanted to build something stronger for the future.

Putting Providers First

To me, CACFP is about much more than paperwork and meal reimbursement. It is about helping children have access to nutritious food during some of the most important years of their lives—and behind every meal is a provider working hard to make it happen.

That is why I believe our job as a sponsor is to support the provider, not just the paperwork. When a provider has a question, I want them to know they have someone they can call. When there is a new requirement, we want to help them understand it. When they are struggling with something, we want to listen and help find a solution.

I also want our providers to know that we appreciate what they do. The work they do every day makes a difference in the lives of children and families.

Learning From One Another

Taking over as Executive Director also means stepping into an organization with a strong history. I have tremendous respect for the work Mindy has done at First Choice and for the foundation she has built over the years. I am especially thankful that she will continue working with First Choice part-time as our KidKare Specialist.

Mindy will be helping me learn the many parts of KidKare and the day-to-day operations of the program. I know I will be relying heavily on her experience during these first few months! There is a lot to learn, and having someone with Mindy’s knowledge and experience to guide me through the transition is something I truly appreciate. I look forward to taking what I learn from her and continuing to move First Choice forward.

How can we make this better for our providers and, ultimately, better for the children they care for?

A New Chapter

As I begin this new chapter, I know there will be changes and plenty of learning along the way. My goal is to make the transition as smooth as possible for our providers and staff.

I want to spend time listening and learning. I want to visit providers, get to know them, hear what is working well, and learn where they may need additional support. I believe you cannot truly understand the needs of the people you serve unless you take the time to listen to them.

My background includes a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition with a minor in Business Administration. I have worked as a Family and Consumer Science Agent with Kansas State Research and Extension, served as a Director of School Nutrition Services in Southeast Kansas, trained foodservice professionals across Kansas in Food Safety, and worked as a Child Nutrition Consultant with the Kansas State Department of Education.

However, some of the most important things I have learned throughout my career have come from the people I have worked with, especially daycare home providers. They have taught me that a successful CACFP program is built on relationships, communication, trust, and support. That is the kind of program I want First Choice Support Services to continue to be.

As Mindy and I worked together to bring our two organizations and experiences together, we kept coming back to one question: How can we make this better for our providers and, ultimately, better for the children they care for? That question will continue to guide us.

I am excited about what the future holds for First Choice Support Services, our staff, and the hundreds of family child care providers we have the privilege of serving across Kansas. This next chapter is about building on what has already been accomplished, bringing our strengths together, and creating an even stronger future.

I am grateful to Mindy for the work she has done, for the trust she has placed in me, and for the opportunity to continue this important work together. Moving forward, I see a stronger program, a stronger support, and stronger partnerships. Most importantly, I see a stronger future for the daycare home providers and children we serve.

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Kelly Horn is the Executive Director of First Choice Support Services, Inc., located in Salina, Kansas. First Choice Support Services, Inc. helps child care providers across Kansas serve nutritious, well-balanced meals and snacks through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). As a nonprofit CACFP sponsor, First Choice supports eligible child care homes with meal reimbursements, helping make healthy meals more accessible for children and child care providers alike. To learn more about First Choice Support Services, Inc., as well as CACFP, visit their website at www.firstchoicesupportservices.org for more information.