Initiatives

1. Provide technical assistance to 5 preschool programs
2. Engage in a preschool and kindergarten registration drive engaging block captains, churches, volunteers, and pediatricians across the Northwest to increase registrations by an additional 250 children for preschool and kindergarten in the first year
3. Create two therapeutic preschool classrooms serving twenty-four children to close developmental gaps and prepare for success in school, supported by Bruce Perry and the Hanen Language model
4. Introduce Principles for Principals: The Principals School Readiness Institute for thirty principals across the Northwest, in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia, the Neighborhood School Network, and the charter schools, with three sessions each year
5. Provide training and technical assistance to ten afterschool programs to enable them to effectively engage children requiring additional reading or algebra support
6. Train two school communities on child development and the impact of trauma.

The following employment initiatives are designed to ensure that youth will smoothly transition to college or a “living wage” job, ready to earn:

1. In conjunction with Martin Luther King High, develop job portfolios for 200 youth by integrating the five career and employment programs at Martin Luther King High School into the Youth Job Portal, a collaborative network of progressively responsible public and private youth jobs, entered through the Job Resource Development Center using research-based assessment for each participant
2. Convene a twenty-member Youth Council to advise the collaborative network
3. Launch the United Way’s Campaign for Mentoring in the Northwest, matching 100 youth with mentors in the first eighteen months
4. Enroll 28 students in Youth IDA program providing case management, financial literacy, and career counseling to save $500 to be matched with $3,000 for post secondary education.

The following civic engagement initiatives are designed to support parents and the community to engage fully in healthy child, youth, and family development and school success:

1. Conduct an interactive campaign and membership drive for children and families across the Northwest, enlisting 1,500 adult and 350 youth KidZone members
2. Engage 100 KidZone members in United Way volunteer opportunities
3. Welcome new babies to blocks across the Northwest through a home visit from a block captain or community volunteer, bringing an infant book and offering community resources and family support information to new parents, as well as offering monthly "cribs for kids" through the Maternity Care Coalition at KidZone with the goal of reaching 100 families
4. Launch Time Banking in the KidZone.