Building a strong foundation

Berkshire United Way collaborates with many community partners throughout the county, to help our children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn, so they are reading proficiently by third grade.  Last year, we invested more than $134,380 in early education and care programs at Berkshire Children and Families, Child Care of the Berkshires, Lee Youth Association, and Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center. Together, we impacted more than 425 children’s lives.

These quality early education and care programs recognize what research has shown – that “children learn best” when academic learning, like language and literacy is intertwined with building social emotional skills, such as sitting quietly for circle time and sharing with others.

Children enrolled in Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center’s Early Childhood Education program listen to a story as they sit quietly during circle time.

The early education and care programs we invested in, report that 93% of the children they serve maintained or progressed socially and emotionally and 92% maintained or improved their language skills.  This is in comparison to 77% of children achieving comparable developmental milestones through investments made by other United Ways.

A young child who was referred to Lee Youth Association’s Busy Bee Preschool by the Department of Children and Families. Upon his arrival, he had absolutely no verbal skills, was walking on his toes, and had trouble forming attachments to adults. Program staff obtained services from the Pediatric Development Center, who came to see him two to three times a week and provided tools for the Busy Bee staff to continue his therapy within the classroom; teachers worked tirelessly with the child every free chance they had. As a result, he is beginning to talk in 2-3 word sentences. He has completely stopped “toe walking”—in fact he’s even running—and has become attached to all his teachers, who look forward to seeing what the future holds for this amazing little boy!

Impact like this is a collaborative effort that’s possible only through the generous support of our donors and hard work of our community partners and volunteers. A child’s earliest years set the foundation for later learning and life success.  The investment we make there now pays incredible dividends later.

We welcome volunteers who are interested in joining us in this important work. To learn more or support our work in early childhood development by giving to Berkshire United Way, please visit berkshireunitedway.org.

Julie
Program Manager, Community Impact