Bethune Child Care for Low Income & Homeless Children https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/proposals-2018/bethune-child-care-for-low-income-homeless-children https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/@@site-logo/sitelogo-75x75.png

Bethune Child Care for Low Income & Homeless Children

Additional Information
Used for	Your generous grant will allow Bethune to continue to provide high quality care and tutelage come to predominantly low-income, single-parent families. In 2017, Bethune served 307 children from 264 families. The vast majority of families, 95%, were served on a sliding fee scale with only 5% paying the full cost of services, and 1,880 days of free childcare services were provided to homeless families.
Benefits	The comprehensive childcare services provided at Bethune actively enhance the lives of low-income and homeless children and their families and ultimately, the world. Highly trained teachers provide children with a wide variety of developmentally and age appropriate activities, and materials that are selected to emphasize concrete experiential learning and to achieve the following goals: foster positive identity and sense of emotional well-being; develop social skills; developing cognitive skills, reason, question, experiment; encourage language/literacy development/creative expression; enhance physical development/skills; encourage/demonstrate sound health, safety, nutritional practices; and respect cultural diversity.
Proposal Description	For 75 years, Mary McLeod Bethune Early Child Development Nursery, Inc. has provided high quality childcare to the low-income and disadvantaged families. Children under our care successfully develop a sense of independence and responsibility through programs that also use real-life situations as sources of valuable learning experiences. These programs also enhance academic preparedness among toddlers set to have formal schooling soon. Current Programs Infant-Toddler Program Our care and learning facility is open on weekdays from 6:30 am to 7:00 pm. All the children under our care are provided with nutritious meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with afternoon and evening snacks included. We accept newborn children, toddlers, and pre-adolescents (up to 12 years old) into our school- readiness programs. Pre-K Readiness Rely on our first aid- and CPR-certified childcare professionals to provide your children with the most empathetic nurturing and attention possible. Let them learn significant life lessons along with those that can help make them excel academically in advance. All members of our teaching staff are qualified certificate and college degree holders. Comprehensive and Developmental Children respond the most to experiences that allow them to absorb and appreciate positive values that real-life encounters offer. We provide mentoring that melds essential life lessons with creative learning techniques. Using this child-friendly approach, we succeed in instilling the love of learning and adventure among toddlers. GED/Parenting Skills Parents with school-aged children can be able to provide better care and mentoring for their children more so if they are equipped with the right skills and the knowledge to apply all this. Through this program, we empower young parents by giving them the opportunity to develop the ability to provide pivotal parental mentoring and guidance. Evaluation Bethune uses two specific evaluation systems to evaluate the educational programs and activities. First, the "Ages & Stages Questionnaire" is a parent completed child monitoring system. At regular intervals (every 2 to 6 months depending on the age), parents are asked to fill in the questionnaire reporting the milestones achieved by their child. Secondly, the "Portage Assessment Guide Birth to Six" is a more in depth measurement tool administered by the child's teacher. This assessment is also administered at regular intervals. Both the "Ages & Stages Questionnaire" and the "Portage Assessment Guide Birth to Six" are integrated into all program activities and lesson plans. Specifically, the Portage Assessment Guide has a companion teacher's guide that offers a more in depth guide with detailed activities to help teach and achieve the same milestones. Using the Portage Assessment Guide is reviewed regularly by the teachers. As a child meets specific goals, additional goals are then presented. Children are placed in specific classrooms based on the achievement of milestones rather than chronological age. Bethune Day Nursery also sets the following objectives for our school aged children: 1. 80% will have an attendance record of no more than 3 unexcused absences per month. 2. 95% will be successfully enrolled into an age appropriate, pre-kinder or elementary program in the Corpus Christi ISD. 3. Of those successfully enrolled, 60% will be on the A or A/B honor roll within the first semester. 4. 60% of the children's parents will attend a parent meeting every three months. All forms of evaluation are reviewed by the Executive Director, Jimmie McCurn and shared with the board of directors. Upon review of the evaluations, the programs and goals may be adapted to better serve the children.   In 2017, Bethune served 307 individual children from 264 families. Age: 32% 0-3 years 46% 3-5 years 22% 6-12 years Ethnicity: 24% Black 55% Hispanic 21% White Home: 97% single mother 1% single father 2% married parents Financial Aid: 97% financial assistance 3% self-pay Days of free childcare services provided to the homeless: 1,880 days. Our community partners include: Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend USDA (Department of Agriculture) Child and Adult Care Food Program United Way of the Coastal Bend CCISD Office of Grants and Federal Programs Del Mar College Education Service Center Region II Early Childhood Intervention Food Bank of Corpus Christi Homeless Issues Partnership (HIP) National Nursing and Rehab Texas Department of Family and Regulatory Services Women’s Shelter of South Texas Early Scholars Academy Corpus Christi Hope House Rainbow House for Women And Children Family Resolutions, Inc. Your generous donation will help to underwrite operating costs of providing free and reduced childcare services to families in need. In 2018, Bethune is operating with a budget of $707,502, which includes only 15% in administrative costs.