2012 has been a great year for HMESF. With 2013 just beginning, we took the time to look back on the great progress the HMESF team and centers have made in early childcare and education in New York City!
Center Spotlight
HMESF provides the Helene Marks Library, a collection of age-appropriate books, to early-age child care and early childhood education centers that offer exemplary programs for children ranging in ages from birth to three years old. The types of environments in which children spend their time and the people with whom they spend their time are strongly linked with the outcome of their later lives; one of the main environments being childcare centers. Even for those centers with effective caregivers and a strong structure, a lack of resources can prove to be an impediment to the success of the program. This is where HMESF is able to step in and give a hand to those high-quality centers that are lacking sufficient resources. This year we were able to make a few visits to our centers in the city.
On March 1, 2012, HMESF visited the Jennie Clark Shelter in Manhattan; one of six Women in Need sites. There are three in Brooklyn and two in the Bronx.
Women in Need were founded in 1983 in response to a lack of services for homeless families. They impressed upon us that 40,000 people in the homeless system in NYC, 80% are members of entirely homeless families, and 17,000 are children. WIN offers provides on-site childcare for children 0-5, and recreation for children 6-teen. Many shelters do not provide childcare, and given the anxiety that many clients have regarding separating from their children, this can be a very meaningful and helpful service.
Women in Need were founded in 1983 in response to a lack of services for homeless families. They impressed upon us that 40,000 people in the homeless system in NYC, 80% are members of entirely homeless families, and 17,000 are children. WIN offers provides on-site childcare for children 0-5, and recreation for children 6-teen. Many shelters do not provide childcare, and given the anxiety that many clients have regarding separating from their children, this can be a very meaningful and helpful service.
W-I-N is supported by the Board of Education. They work in collaboration to ensure school attendance, and implement a flexible childcare curriculum. They highlight the importance of early education, and focus heavily on emotional development. There are activities developed for teens so they can identify with kids their age that are not faced with being uprooted from their homes. There are many extracurricular events offered at W-I-N: dance and hip-hop classes. Additionally, they have a computer lab, where children can do homework, surf the Internet, and parent’s can look for jobs and create resumes.
There are currently 258 children in the shelter, and 40 to 50 of them are in the 0- 3 age range. We saw two classrooms at this location, and discussed the importance of books. We were enthusiastic to learn that they have enjoyed the books that HMESF has donated as part of our Library Initative. W-I-N was excited to tell us about their upcoming book fair. In the past, authors have visited their site, bringing a book for each of the children to take home.
It was delightful to visit W-I-N and see first hand the amazing work that they do. HMESF is thrilled to be working in collaboration with W-I-N.
HELP Morris
HELP Morris Early Childhood program is a Tier II shelter program for families located in the South Bronx. Help Morris was one of the first centers HMESF became involved with shortly after the creation of our organization in 2007. As part of their vision, HELP Morris addresses the realities of the children lives they service. Many of the children have suffered traumatic events, so Help Morris works to create a solid emotional foundation and school readiness for each child. They also aim to help children achieve self-sufficiency and autonomy through their education.
There are currently 258 children in the shelter, and 40 to 50 of them are in the 0- 3 age range. We saw two classrooms at this location, and discussed the importance of books. We were enthusiastic to learn that they have enjoyed the books that HMESF has donated as part of our Library Initative. W-I-N was excited to tell us about their upcoming book fair. In the past, authors have visited their site, bringing a book for each of the children to take home.
It was delightful to visit W-I-N and see first hand the amazing work that they do. HMESF is thrilled to be working in collaboration with W-I-N.
HELP Morris
HELP Morris Early Childhood program is a Tier II shelter program for families located in the South Bronx. Help Morris was one of the first centers HMESF became involved with shortly after the creation of our organization in 2007. As part of their vision, HELP Morris addresses the realities of the children lives they service. Many of the children have suffered traumatic events, so Help Morris works to create a solid emotional foundation and school readiness for each child. They also aim to help children achieve self-sufficiency and autonomy through their education.
The Early Childcare program supports children from infancy to pre-kindergarten, age five. When I first visited the site in 2008, there were four classrooms: 2 months to one year, two toddler classes ages 1-2.2, and a universal kindergarten class of 4-5 year olds. Since that time, with all the cutbacks, Help Morris has unfortunately lost their 3-year-old classroom. Today, there are only three classrooms: 0-18 months, and 2 toddler classrooms. Each classroom has a head teacher, an assistant, and teacher’s aid.
Education is at the forefront of HELP Morris’s mission. The provider’s work hard to create a curriculum that allows each child to both interacts with their experience and environment. As part of their program, the children engage in all moves of self-expression: drawing, painting, playing, reading, building, singing, and moving. Additionally the center incorporates healthy and nutritional lunch into their program since the majority of the children spend 5 days a week at the center. Help Morris follows the New York City Food standard of CACFP guidelines. There are monthly tips provided to the parents and staff to ensure that the healthy eating habits that are instilled in the center are incorporated into the home.
It was great fun to interact with the children in each of the classrooms at Help Morris. They were absolutely adorable. We were thrilled to see that some of the HMESF books were displayed in all of the classrooms. One of the providers mentioned that the children love the HMESF books. She is continually teaching the early aged children about different countries and their cultures. She requested some picture books on Ireland, and other areas to be included in a future HMESF donation.
Book/Kid 2012 Donation
We continued our Holiday Book Donation program. Each child at our 21 centers throughout New York City will be given a copy of Richie Frieman’s “Terple Always Dreams Bigger,” to take home. This book was just featured at our October 21st Barnes & Noble book reading and puppet show. (Check out the blog post What a Great Turn Out for Sunday Story-time to see what you missed!)
“Terple--Always Dream Bigger” is Richie Frieman’s latest installment of the Terple series, who also received the Literary Classics Seal of Approval and the 2012 Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award for Best Poetry and Rhyme book. “Terple--Always Dream Bigger” tells the story of Terple, an imaginative and courageous young turtle dreaming of a life outside the pond. His parents write him a goodnight letter encouraging something all parents tell their children: you have to dream bigger if you want all your wishes to come true. With a story encouraging children to always dream bigger, its no wonder “Terple--Always Dream Bigger” was part of HMESF’s book/kid donation this 2012 holiday season.
Scholarship
Our main achievement for 2012 was the launch of the HMESF Scholarship program, which was realized this Fall. The goal of the HMESF Scholarship Program is to supplement tuition assistance programs already in place at high-quality nonprofit early-age childcare centers serving an economically disadvantaged population, to ease the burden families living in poverty and or near-poverty face in accessing quality early-age childcare and education.
This year, a grant was awarded to the Mother Hale Learning Center (MHLC), in Harlem, NYC for use during the 2012-2013 academic year. As a result of this grant, two additional children are receiving the benefit of MHLC’s nurturing and stimulating environment. It is truly humbling to be able to have a positive impact on individual lives, and it is only through your support that we are able to do so.
Thank you for your support in 2012, it is greatly appreciated. As we embark on our 5 Year Anniversary, we can only hope that we will be as fortunate as we have been over the past years!
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| HMESF with author Richie Frieman at Sunday Story-time Barnes & Noble. |
Scholarship
Our main achievement for 2012 was the launch of the HMESF Scholarship program, which was realized this Fall. The goal of the HMESF Scholarship Program is to supplement tuition assistance programs already in place at high-quality nonprofit early-age childcare centers serving an economically disadvantaged population, to ease the burden families living in poverty and or near-poverty face in accessing quality early-age childcare and education.
This year, a grant was awarded to the Mother Hale Learning Center (MHLC), in Harlem, NYC for use during the 2012-2013 academic year. As a result of this grant, two additional children are receiving the benefit of MHLC’s nurturing and stimulating environment. It is truly humbling to be able to have a positive impact on individual lives, and it is only through your support that we are able to do so.
Thank you for your support in 2012, it is greatly appreciated. As we embark on our 5 Year Anniversary, we can only hope that we will be as fortunate as we have been over the past years!
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