“The early childhood years lay the foundation for later economic productivity, responsible citizenship and a lifetime of sound physical and mental health.”
- Dr. Jack Shonkoff, Director, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Our community’s future is directly tied to the success of all of our children. Decades of research prove that the opportunities we provide to children today, starting at birth, will absolutely shape who they become tomorrow. The Community Partnership for Children is grounded in this knowledge.
The Community Partnership for Children is the Brown County United Way’s flagship “community change” initiative. Founded in 2005, it has brought together the largest and broadest early childhood coalition in Brown County's history.
The initiative’s goal is to improve how all parents access and receive help – beginning at their babies’ births. This is being accomplished through identifying families’ needs at the hospital, agencies working better together, and creating a prevention-based, coordinated System of Care for our children.
As a part of this effort, in 2008 an independent Executive Committee led by Ginny Riopelle and Paul Beideman created the Community Partnership for Children Fund for the express purpose of building service capacity for the front-end System of Care elements, which include:
- Welcome Baby visits, parenting newsletters and resource guides for every new parent at all Brown County hospitals
- Follow-up assistance and referrals for families who need extra help
- Ramping up the availability of voluntary in-home visits and parenting support classes within three existing local agencies
The United Way is the in-kind fiscal agent for this Fund (which is separate from its own annual fundraising campaign) and also has donated ongoing staff assistance.
Through the Community Partnership for Children, nearly 100 public and nonprofit agencies, business leaders, schools, service clubs and others are working cooperatively to improve how all Brown County children and their families receive the help and information they need – right from the start.
The ultimate end results will be stronger families, thriving children, and, over the long term, an improved future workforce and economy.
For more information, contact Sarah Inman, Community Impact Manager: sarah@browncountyunitedway.org.
Links:
Community Partnership for Children brochure (published 6/08) (6.4MB)