The Down East Partnership for Children is making a tremendous impact on the children, families and communities in Nash and Edgecombe counties. We know these are tough times economically for our families and friends, our community and for North Carolina. But we believe it’s critical to keep moving forward and not give up the fight to make sure that our children continue to receive the support they need to be successful.

It takes all of us to make a difference — large and small contributions and mostly a commitment to work together to make Nash and Edgecombe a great place to raise our children and families as well as a great place to work. We are asking all of our partners to share the partnership’s message and to invest time, talent and resources to ensure that every child is launched as a healthy, lifelong learner by the end of third grade.

NEXT STEPS

Looking ahead to 2011, we have outlined our “next steps” in Partnership action:

Hold the line on early childhood investment. This fiscal year state budget cuts have resulted in approximately $792,000 less funding available for young children in Nash and Edgecombe counties. Next year, this number could double. Each year, however, approximately 2000 children who need access to services during their early years are born in the two-county area.

Make sure that all children have access to high-quality child care. Currently, only 21 percent of children 0-3 are in licensed care. Only 58 percent of Edgecombe and 65 percent of Nash County low-income children receive subsidized child care. The median salary for a child care provider is only $7.50 per hour.

Support the Healthy Kids Collaborative. Healthy, active children are more likely to be successful in school and have higher self-esteem and longterm educational goals. Childhood obesity is a growing issue. One in 5 children enters kindergarten already overweight or obese; these numbers are as high as 1 in 3 for low-income children.

Families must be actively engaged in their child’s education. A family’s involvement in their child’s school promotes a wide range of benefits for the child including improved school readiness, higher student achievement, better social skills and behavior and increased likelihood of high school graduation. However, only 5 percent to 10 percent of kindergarten parents report being actively involved at their child’s school.

Support the Ready Schools and Ready Communities initiatives. Supporting these initiatives increases the capacity and resources for schools to be ready to meet the needs of all children, which increases the likelihood of their success. Currently, only about half of all children, grades 3-8, are at or above grade level in both mathematics and reading.

Make a contribution to the For Every Child Campaign. This campaign helps fill in gaps in state, federal and grant funding which enables the partnership to develop new resources for children and families.(Examples: Flex funds for social services to help prevent out of home child placement; stipends for playgroup leaders; and Ready School Innovation Awards for local elementary schools).

As always, I would like to thank all of you for your continued support of Down East Partnership and for your commitment to our children, our families and our future.