Grant helps expand “Family, Friends and Neighbor Care” project for preschoolers and care providers
The PNC Foundation announced today a $300,000, three-year grant to First Steps to enhance literacy education, language development and child care quality for Grand Rapids’ preschoolers in preparation for their first years of elementary school.
The grant to First Steps was made possible by the PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group, and is part of a $3 million investment in early childhood education PNC has been introducing throughout Michigan and Northwest Ohio.
The program signifies the first major investment the PNC Foundation has made in the Grand Rapids area through its signature philanthropic cause, Grow Up Great, a 10-year, $100 million bilingual initiative to improve early childhood education.
First Steps is a community partnership that works to strengthen and coordinate the system of early childhood services in Kent County, Mich. The organization’s vision is to ensure that services for preschool children are high quality and aligned for their benefit.
Speaking on behalf of the PNC Foundation, Sean Welsh, PNC’s regional president for Western Michigan said, “Research has shown that children who are ready for kindergarten are far more likely to experience greater educational achievements, strive toward higher vocational aspirations and contribute to society later in life. The investment in this First Steps program will help ensure that local children are socially, emotionally and intellectually ready for school.”
The PNC grant will expand the reach of First Steps’ “Family, Friends and Neighborhood Care” project, which will benefit hundreds of children and childcare providers in the Grand Rapids area. The program uses a two-pronged approach to improve school readiness by strengthening the skills of unlicensed child care providers and providing the children in their care with activities to support literacy and language development.
“We recognize how important it is for young children in our community to have quality early learning opportunities,” said Kate Pew Wolters, co-chair of the First Steps Commission. “In this program, coaches work one-on-one with child care providers, helping them strengthen their interactions with children and provide the early experiences that will help prepare preschoolers to be successful when they enter kindergarten.”
Today’s grant will support the coaches as well as “early learning hubs” established throughout the neighborhood that hold regular playgroups that allow the children to participate in literacy-based activities and the providers to watch coaches model best-practice instruction.
As part of today’s program, Welsh presented each child in First Steps’ pre-k programs with “Happy, Healthy, Ready for School – Learning Is Everywhere” kits. Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, created the bilingual, multimedia kits for PNC Grow Up Great as part of a continuing partnership. The kits include a magazine for parents and caregivers, a children’s activity book and cards, along with an original Sesame Street DVD.
Kate Pew Wolters accepted the gift of kits on behalf of First Steps. Learning is Everywhere materials are available at no charge at all PNC Bank branches, pncgrowupgreat.com, and sesameworkshop.org. The video is available free of charge on Learn Along with Sesame on iTunes (www.iTunes.com) and Amazon VOD.
The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: PNC), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture. Through its signature cause, Grow Up Great, PNC has created a 10-year, $100 million initiative to enhance early childhood education and school readiness.