Help 350 Children Without Homes Access Preschool

Dear Friend,

I would like to personally thank you for your generous donation to Bright Beginnings. As you know, Bright Beginnings is dedicated to serving young children and families experiencing homelessness. It is because of generous donors like you that our work is possible, and we are so incredibly grateful.

Since the beginning of our GlobalGiving campaign in November 2018, we have provided more than 200 children with health and wellness screenings, development screenings, and robust early childhood education and wrap-around services. At our two centers, we offer full-day, year-round early childhood education programming to 150 children, which prepares them to enter kindergarten ready to learn and on par with their higher-resourced peers. Through our home-based program, we reach 50 more children by meeting them in whatever environment they call home and providing early learning activities and resources.

Bright Beginnings’ multi-disciplinary support teams—which include a Teacher/Home Visitor, Family Advocate, Therapeutic Specialist (as needed), and Workforce Development Specialist—continue to engage all children and parents to ensure that they have the support required to deal with the trauma and stress they have experienced due to their homeless status. By intervening early and often, Bright Beginnings ensures that staff are able to respond to developmental delays quickly and effectively, and that all children with developmental concerns progress toward reaching age-appropriate developmental milestones.

In recent months, we have expanded the impact of our Fatherhood Initiative. Bright Beginnings launched its new Fatherhood Initiative in October 2018. This initiative began with only 15 fathers and has now grown into a weekly program that engages 65 Bright Beginnings dads. This program offers fathers information and tools related to parenting young children, and follows the Effective Black Parenting Curriculum. Fathers are supported by Bright Beginnings’ multi-disciplinary support teams and report that their increased time at Bright Beginnings has enhanced their personal and parental development.

We look forward to keeping you updated on our accomplishments as the project continues. For weekly updates, subscribe to our newsletter by visiting www.bbidc.org. Thank you again for your support!

Sincerely,

Dr. Marla Dean

Executive Director