Nurture 15 At-Risk Atlanta Preschoolers for a Year

Dear Friends,

It's the end of May, and at Sheltering Arms that means we're beginning to say some tearful good-byes.  Little ones who we've nurtured and loved every day since they arrived as infants five years ago are now competent preschoolers, ready to test their wings and fly off to kindergarten.  We'll miss them, but we know they have exciting futures ahead. Our own developmental assessments tell us that they exceed school readiness requirements as they leave Sheltering Arms, and teachers and parents report back that their children are setting the curve in elementary school as bright, articulate, inquisitive, socially and emotionally mature students.

Our 125 years have shown us the tremendous difference quality early learning can make in a child's long term success. Research has long shown that's true as well.  Lately, however, it's not just those of us who live and breathe early education who are recognizing its benefits.  In his State of the Union address, President Obama announced support for increased investment in pre-k, and then visited our city to underscore his commitment.  Since then, we've had many opportunities to share our story through the media.  We've included links to several of those stories here.  We aren't yet sure what the end result will be of the President's proposal, and how it will help balance the cuts we've had in Head Start funding due to sequestration, but we do know it has helped make more people aware that when we invest in early learning, the entire community benefits.

Here's an example from one impoverished Atlanta community that is rebuilding itself.  At Sheltering Arms Educare of Atlanta school, located on the first floor of Dunbar Elementary, after only two years in operation children entering kindergarten went from only 6% reading at grade level to 55% reading at grade level.  In talking about her son, one mother said, “I know he would not be where he is now without this school. It has really developed a love of learning in him.”  The Atlanta Public Schools video clip attached to this report will let you take a look inside this successful birth-to-5th grade learning partnership that is playing a key role in breaking the cycle of poverty in this neighborhood.

As we watch our children head off to great futures this summer, we know it is because they have truly had a "village" helping to prepare them for this moment.  Those of you who support our work at Sheltering Arms are vital members of our village.  We couldn't make such a difference without you.

Thanks so much from all of us.

Links:

• Sheltering Arms & Atlanta Public Schools Education Partnership
• ABC News Reports on Presiden't Pre-K Plan from Sheltering Arms
• Early Education in Georgia, featuring Sheltering Arms

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year!  2013 marks a huge milestone for Sheltering Arms as we celebrate our 125th birthday.  In 1888, the first post-Civil War generation was coming of age in the southern United States.  Electricity and other technological advances were transforming the city of Atlanta, bringing textile mills and box factories and a growing working class, including increasing numbers of women working outside the home.

A group of church women volunteered to help these low-income working families.  One day as they returned clothes they had mended to one of these households, the volunteers found a little girl, at home alone, tied to a bedpost. Desperate, it was the only choice her mother had to keep her child safe as she worked long hours.  The volunteers discovered the little girl was not alone.  With mothers and fathers and older brothers and sisters working to make ends meet, there was no one to mind the children.  Children were tied to window sills on the factory floor or locked up at home alone until the family's work was done.

The volunteers were moved to action, and began providing child care for the children and support for their families. They advocated with mill owners and city leaders to provide resources and space for their work.  They worked with other similar "day nurseries" across the country, championing quality standards for child care and educating elected leaders like President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the needs of working women.

125 years later, the mission of Sheltering Arms as envisioned by these early volunteers is much the same.  Young families still need affordable, quality care for their children so that they can continue to work and put bread on the table.  Children still need a nurturing, safe, stimulating envionment where they can thrive and prepare for success in life.  Sheltering Arms is still building strong children and families, and still advocating for communities and leaders to support them as they grow into independent, contributing members of our society.  

Almost 50,000 children and six generations of families have been touched by the work of Sheltering Arms, thanks to those first visionary volunteers and thousands of supporters like you who have continued the legacy of our Founding Mothers.

Thank you so much!

Links:

• Sheltering Arms website
• Facebook Album of Sheltering Arms Historical Photos
• Share Your Sheltering Arms Story for Our 125th Anniversary