4/1/2010 - West Side Leader
     

Half of foundation’s education grants to support early learning initiatives

AKRON — The Akron Community Foundation’s (ACF) Board of Trustees recently focused 50 percent of its $384,500 in education grants on early learning initiatives. In all, $192,500 will support early childhood education programs in Greater Akron.

“One of the most gratifying results of our focus on early childhood education has been the innovative collaboration of local agencies, government entities and foundations that are working together to meet the needs of our children in a time when everyone’s budgets are under stress,” said the Rev. Sandra Selby, chair of ACF’s Distribution Committee. 

In addition to supporting the development of a countywide early learning initiative called First Things First, ACF’s 2009 grants helped expand a program that prevents preschool expulsions, supported the opening of a resource center for early education teachers at the library and established programs for immigrant families with young children. Last year’s $262,000 in grants also encouraged a new collaboration between Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority (AMHA) and the Summit County Family and Children First Council, which together were able to serve 250 families in eight months.

This year’s grants will continue ACF’s support of these initiatives. A $95,000 grant to AMHA will deepen its services and expand its reach to additional communities. In partnership with several local agencies, AMHA will conduct comprehensive home visitations and teach parents how to prepare their children for kindergarten. The agencies also will help identify and provide interventions for existing issues at home, including maternal depression and developmental delays.

A $50,000 grant to Child Guidance & Family Solutions will help the organization expand its reach to five times as many preschoolers. The grant was directed to the Toddlers and Preschoolers Succeeding Program, which develops children’s social-emotional skills to prevent expulsions from preschool. Since its inception, the program has cut annual expulsions at program sites to zero through early screening and intervention for behavioral issues. This year’s grant will leverage new government funding and help the agency reach 2,000 children in 22 sites.

“(With the program), kids are able to make friends easier, learn how to follow the rules and do well in school,” said Ken Ditlevson, Child Guidance’s early childhood services director. “When they learn how to cope with (their emotions) in an appropriate way, that lasts with them forever.”

Asian Services in Action (ASIA) received a $12,500 grant for its READY Program, the only program in Summit County to serve refugee families with young children, according to ACF officials. This bilingual early learning program helps children from birth to age 5 develop the English-language skills they need for school.

“[For these families], getting a child ready to enter school is a very low priority, as parents are in ‘survival mode,’ focused on finding a job, adjusting to a new culture and attempting to master the English language,” said ASIA Executive Director Michael Byun. He added the READY Program helps children “build resistance and lay a strong foundation for psychosocial and emotional growth and academic success.”

In addition to its education grants, ACF’s board also ratified 246 designated and donor-advised grants from 77 funds totaling almost $2.4 million. These grants bring the quarterly total to nearly $3 million, ACF’s largest cycle in more than a year.

The following is a list of programs receiving grants affecting the West Side Leader readership:

• Alliance for Healthy Youth, for youth development programming, $7,500;

• Akron Council on World Affairs Inc., for Global Scholars, $7,500;

• Akron General Medical Center, for the Healthcare in Progress collaborative, $7,500;

• AMHA, to continue early childhood development programs in AMHA communities, $95,000;

• Alchemy Inc., for the Myth, Muses & Scribes collaborative with Kent State University’s National Writing Program, $7,500;

• All-Star Training Club, for an academic/sports summer camp for youths with disabilities, $12,000;

• The Arc of Summit & Portage Counties Inc., for the People Together disability-awareness program, $10,000;

• ASIA Inc., for the READY program, $12,500;

• Beacon Journal Charity Fund Inc., for oral health education for third-graders, $7,500;

• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Western Reserve, for the Eller Club, $30,000;

• Child Guidance & Family Solutions Inc., for the Toddlers and Preschoolers Succeeding Program, $50,000;

• First Book, to purchase new books for children in need, $5,000;

• Fund for Our Economic Future, to increase ACF’s support to $100,000 for Phase III, $50,000;

• Good Neighbors Inc., to purchase food, $10,000;

• Hattie Larlham Foundation, to provide vocational opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities at the Doggie Day Care & Boarding site, $20,000;

• He Brought Us out Ministry, for after-school and summer programming, $10,000;

• Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio Inc., for JA More Than Money, $7,500;

• Project GRAD Akron, for a literacy program for elementary students, $25,000;

• Project LEARN of Summit County, to support the transition of GED students to college, $20,000;

• Society of St. Vincent de Paul, St. Hilary Church, for the AIM HIGH computer refurbishing program, $10,000;

• Summit Education Initiative, for Destination College, $20,000;

• YMCA, to provide after-school programming for at-risk girls and female juvenile offenders, $10,000.

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