An effort to create a new head start preschool program in Covington’s Eastside neighborhood got a big boost in the form of a $75,000 grant.
Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission received the grant from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) and its Northern Kentucky Fund to remodel the existing building at the corner of Tenth Street and Scott Boulevard that was formerly a Summit Medical Group building.
The program will be called the Eastside Child Development Center.
The GCF grant, part of a $750,000 project that was first reported by The River City News in April, will be used to remodel the into a space for roughly eighty young learners.
Additionally, the project includes an indoor activity area, an outdoor playground, parking/drop off area for parents, and new landscaping. The project is expected to be completed in time for August enrollment. The center will house Head Start classrooms for 3 and 4 year olds and a day care center for 1 and 3 year olds. Besides the educational programming, NKCAC’s Head Start program provides nutrition, health screenings, social-emotional assessments, and parent education services.
“Every child we can reach before kindergarten is a child who is more likely to be ready for school and more likely to become a life-long learner,” Laurie Wolsing, NKCAC’s Head Start Director, said in a news release, “and to offer that service in places where working mothers and fathers can easily drop off their child on their way to work makes me very proud.”
“It is important to reach these young learners as early as possible,” NKCAC Executive Director Florence Tandy said in a news release. “Virtually all of the research shows that the years from birth to 5 are the most important to setting the stage for success in life.” Tandy says, “This center, like all of our early childhood programs, is about creating community for the whole family. We encourage parents to volunteer at our centers and to take an active role in their child’s education. We are proud to be partnering with the Greater Cincinnati Foundation toward this end.”
The Greater Cincinnati Foundation helps people make the most of their giving to build a better community. We believe in the power of philanthropy to change the lives of people and communities. As a community foundation, GCF creates a prosperous Greater Cincinnati by investing in thriving people and vibrant places. An effective steward of the community’s charitable resources since 1963, the Foundation inspires philanthropy in eight counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission (NKCAC) serves all eight counties of Northern Kentucky, offering support to families and individuals. For more than 40 years, by partnering with families to offer specific assistance, NKCAC has helped tens of thousands of families gain independence, including Head Start, which is a pre-school program for young learners age 3 and 4 that prepares them for transition into kindergarten.
-Staff report
Photo: Site of Eastside Childhood Development Center/RCN
