admin, Author at Ready for School, Ready for Life

Partner Spotlight: Guilford Child Development

By Stephanie Skordas, Director of Marketing & Communications

Guilford Child Development is a nonprofit organization that provides educational and social services to help young children and families reach their full potential and achieve future success.

“Guilford Child Development is one of the best kept secrets,” says CEO Maria Layne-Stevens. “We have our own little ecosystem in a sense, where we’re focusing on children prenatally, and pregnant moms, and we have ability to support our families from conception through children entering kindergarten. Founded in 1967, Guilford Child Development (GCD) provides services to more than 6,000 children and families a year. The organization’s six programs are Head Start/Early Start, Regional Childcare Resources & Referral, Catering for Kids, Nurse-Family Partnership, Learning Together Family Literacy Program and the Family Success Center.

The organization’s efforts to empower families also come with making parents and caregivers aware of their role and responsibility to ensure that the program is being implemented with fidelity. In the Head Start Policy Council for example, families play a pivotal role in being advocates for themselves and their families, but also in providing input into the program’s design and management, ultimately contributing to the success of the program.

The organization creates opportunities to encourage parents and caregivers to foster their own development, build their advocacy skills, and continue their education while supporting their children’s development and learning.

With more than 350 employees, Guilford Child Development is one of the largest nonprofit organizations in Guilford County.

“Engaging parents in training designed to promote personal development and build soft skills improves their readiness for gainful employment, empowering parents to move their family out of poverty. This is a critical, life-changing element of the services we provide,” Layne-Stevens says. “We’ve been fortunate to partner with incredible local organizations to carry out our mission in helping children and families reach their full potential.”

Layne-Stevens points to the commitment the organization made to address early childhood teacher compensation. “We made a commitment to our teachers to address teacher pay, a significant challenge in the early childhood services industry. We got creative, cut costs, and addressed teacher compensation. While this is one step forward in our journey, we are demonstrating to our staff and the community the importance of early childhood education and our teachers who are making such a difference in the lives of young children.”

Guilford Child Development was one of Ready Ready’s first partners, heavily involved in the 100-day challenges that helped coalesce the community effort into the growing nonprofit organization we are today.

Guilford Parent Leader Network

Finding community, leading change

Amber Robinson of the Guilford Parent Leader Network remembers when it started with focus groups in Guilford County. “Back in 2014, I was part of Photo Voice, which gave parents digital cameras to capture our every day lives. We answered questions with photos about our every day lives,” Robinson remembers. “It was a precursor to the Family Action Learning Teams which became part of the national Parent Leader Network.” An original member, Robinson remains active in the group which coalesced into its present form as Ready for School, Ready for Life became a nonprofit organization.

“The Parent Leader Network is a group of individuals who come together to discuss the needs of families and the community and how best to serve our children,” says Sanaa Sharrieff, who joined the network two years ago when her children were in preschool. Now they are in first grade, and Sharrieff says the connections she has made with other parents and caregivers in the community have been invaluable.

The Guilford Parent Leader Network was established as a decision-making body of Ready for School, Ready for Life. The goal of the group is to ensure that family voice is brought into every key decision as we work together to build an innovative, connected early childhood system in Guilford County.

“Having our voices heard as parents, having our voices heard as members of the community and learning how to navigate the space that we’re in right now while still being effective parents plus all the resources have been phenomenal,” Sharrieff said.

Monthly meetings bring the group together — in-person before the pandemic, and virtually right now. During the meetings, the group discusses a topic, but there’s always room to provide each other with support or newly-discovered resources that can help each parent and caregiver succeed.

“It’s so important to create a support network in the community and help people see that they’re actually leaders and change agents,” Robinson said. The larger national network involved has offered additional resources such as trips to Chicago, and this year, a conference made virtual by COVID-19.

“When we did the (national) Parent Leader Network Summit, we had 20 minutes of guided breathing and meditation. It was an affirmation that we are more than parents, we are individuals who contribute to the planet and need this kind of self-care,” Sharrieff says. “Then we went into the let’s put on our superhero capes and set these goals and figure out together how we’re going to affect change in society. It’s just really empowering.”

Sharrieff also says a group chat allows the members to stay in touch informally and share resources between meetings. “We’re here for each other. We’re learning ways to be great leaders, listeners, and supporters. I’m really grateful to be connected to this network.”

If you’d like to know more about the Guilford Parent Leader Network, which typically meets on the third Monday from 7-8:30 p.m. each month, please email Heather Adams, Director of Engagement and Literacy Initiatives. The group is open to new members with children from birth to age eight, who are interested in serving as decision-makers, consultants, and ambassadors for Ready Ready’s work in Guilford County.

November: CEO Message

Dear Ready Ready Friend,

Governor Roy Cooper has designated November as Family Engagement Month in North Carolina. It couldn’t come at a better time.

While November traditionally brings a focus on family and gratitude, this year may include some extra stress. An important presidential election in a country deeply divided by politics happened this week. A surge in COVID-19 numbers in Guilford County has our school system examining how and when to return students to the classroom this month. Combine all that with a slightly higher unemployment rate in September linked to food insecurity and housing instability, and you may wonder how to make Thanksgiving plans this month. If you are able to invite your family members to gather in a socially distant way at the table during these times, navigating the conversation may be an added stressor.

That’s why we urge you to celebrate Family Engagement Month with us at Ready Ready. In this issue of our newsletter, we will share resources that can help you and your family. These resources include simple ideas that increase early childhood development, teach skills that help with math and literacy, and offer ways to find parenting resources, childcare, and emphasize the importance of having fun with your family.

Since we’re talking about November, did you know that practicing gratitude can help you and your children build resilience? Scientists who are studying this are careful to note that practicing gratitude does not minimize hardships we are experiencing, but it can help you manage your reactions to them. This idea links back to one of our Guilford Basics: Maximize love, manage stress.

In this newsletter, we are turning our partner spotlight on Guilford Child Development, one of our partner organizations. Family engagement is one facet of this nonprofit’s mission to provide educational and social services to help young children and families reach their full potential and achieve future success.

We are proud to work with Guilford Child Development and more than 100 other nonprofits to assist Guilford County children, parents and caregivers, and families. We are grateful to all who take on this important work and welcome those who want to join us at the table.

Charrise Hart

CEO

Child Development Quiz

Answers to Child Development Quiz:

Milestone Correct Age

Begins smiling at people 2 months

Shows curiosity about things and tries to
get things that are out of reach 6 months

Hands you a book when he/she wants to
hear a story 1 year

Points to things or pictures when they
are named 2 years

Does puzzles with 3 or 4 pieces 3 years

Track your child’s development from 2 months to 5 years of age.

Print the Milestone Checklist

Partner Spotlight: Healthy Steps

Science shows that 80% of brain development occurs by age three, making the first few years of a child’s life critical to their health and future well-being. But often times, these years are overwhelming for parents and caregivers as they face challenges integrating a new child into their lives. These challenges have been intensified by the current pandemic.

The Children’s Home Society of NC’s (CHS) HealthySteps, a program of ZERO TO THREE, provides parental and family support to help ensure the healthy development and school readiness of babies and toddlers. This support begins at the first newborn visit when a HealthySteps specialist meets with the family to determine the kinds of support and services they need. CHS has approximately 300 staff and provides services to all 100 countries in NC in some capacity with an emphasis on lower-income communities.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed HealthySteps pace toward its goal of serving more than 1 million young children and families by 2032, the agency is proud it was able to quickly adapt to continue providing services to families. “We had to figure out organization-wide how to continue to serve families and keep our staff safe,” says Sebrina Cooke-Davis, Ph.D., Parent Education Program Supervisor for CHS.

The HealthySteps staff had already begun working from home before Gov. Cooper issued the statewide mandatory shelter in place order. “Our agency letting us know that our best interest came first allowed us to concentrate on how we could best alter our work to meet the challenges and interests of our families and we were able to figure out very creative ways to stay connected with our families while working remotely,” says Dr. Cooke-Davis.

Dr. Cooke-Davis acknowledges HealthySteps has not been able to serve as many families as they were pre-COVID, but both she and HealthySteps Specialist Meghann Wilkens, MSW, stress how important their work has been during the pandemic. “What I’ve seen consistently with families is they are stressed,” says Dr. Cooke-Davis. “We have always serviced a lot of families who have parental stresses, but COVID has exacerbated that a bit. Families are looking for ways to connect and they are feeling a bit of isolation, which on top of the stresses of a pandemic and being at home with children all the time is a bit much for many of them.”

“The level of isolation has really increased among families,” Wilkens echoes.” I know many of my families with newborns and little babies don’t feel comfortable even seeing their own parents. They’re worried about keeping everyone safe. They’re frightened to go out and for good reason; COVID is very scary. But it’s also very isolating and I’ve seen an increase in mental health issues for moms. Their anxiety is through the roof. It’s always been there, but it’s definitely been amplified by COVID.

“Housing insecurity has also gone up and housing resources are definitely needed now more than ever,” continues Wilkens. “Lots of people were laid off due to COVID, and there are very few places hiring for positions that require just a high school diploma. Unemployment has been a new challenge for many of my families.”

In addition to dealing with their families’ increased stresses, the HealthySteps team has also had to cope withtheir own stresses due to COVID. Dr. Cooke-Davis says they meet very often to make sure they are staying connected. Additionally, CHS is offering COVID leave and FMLA leave for staff who may need it. They have also adjusted schedules as needed to make sure they are meeting the individual needs of staff.

“CHS has been beyond supportive of its employees and our mental health,” says Wilkens. “There have been plenty of agency-wide meetings just to have that sense of community. This has been very nice because many of us are feeling somewhat isolated just as our parents are feeling. The HealthySteps peers meet multiple times a week as a large group and most of us have also started to meet in smaller cluster groups. It’s really been great to have that camaraderie and to be able to check on everyone, to see if there are any barriers with reaching patients in the practice, and to see how we can support each other.

“CHS has also really advocated with us in our practices to help get remote access to medical records for the HealthySteps specialists who did not have this access and would have been limited in their ability to contact families and follow their caseload. This allows us to be more flexible with our families. We’re always around our phones so we have the ability to text families or to answer emails and to be that touchstone for them,” Wilkens continues.

“It’s really great to be able to provide this level of support and to be able to answer their questions: The baby spit up; is this normal? or The baby is crying more lately. We weren’t able to provide that level of support when we were in the pediatric office because either we were always running to the next room, or looking for that 5 minutes to just take a breather or write something down. It wasn’t easy to take a 30 minute or an hour phone call. I’ve really enjoyed being able to do that. Even though our numbers have shifted and they may not be as high in unique visits, I feel that our quality of service has definitely stayed the same, if not increased, for many of our higher-needs families. Also, by working from home, we’re getting to assist more in the referral process and follow up to make sure families were able to overcome barriers or actively problem solve for them.

“Now more than ever, there is resistance to having to seek out services,” adds Wilkens. “For example, with the housing assistance, you can access it once during this time and then not again, so some families are resistant or worried about taking it in case things gets worse later.” Wilkens also notes that due to fear of exposure to COVID, some parents are also hesitant to seek resources from organizations who do not offer contactless assistance.

Dr. Cooke-Davis and Wilkens encourage families to talk to other families and ask questions to decrease the likelihood of isolation. “Word of mouth is a great way to learn about resources” Dr. Cooke-Davis says. “If you don’t talk about it and ask other people, you won’t know.”

“Also, I would encourage families to be your best advocate and reach out to your support systems, the ones that want to take care of you and want the best for your children,” says Wilkens. “Be honest and say what you need and I’m sure the response will be positive.”

Dr. Cooke-Davis says it has been pretty amazing to see how her team has adapted and been able to continue to serve families “in the midst of all the stresses that are going on. Our funders, Get Ready Guilford, and all of our partners have been very supportive in helping us figure out how to best support families during this time,” she says. “It’s been a challenge because we’re not face to face, but we have definitely been able to impact families as we’ve seen from the many success stories we’ve had in connecting families to resources to help them meet their basic needs during this very difficult time.”

Keep Your Child’s Development on Pace During the Pandemic

KEEP YOUR CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT ON PACE DURING THE PANDEMIC
Benefits of Reading with Your Child

While they use different terms, Guilford Basics (Read and Discuss Stories) and Read Charlotte (Active Reading), both offer great tips for engaging your child while reading. Below are a few suggestions from them:

Commit to Read Every Day Try to set aside 15 minutes every day to read with your child. Younger children may not understand for a while, but focus on the pictures, pointing to them and explaining colors, shapes, and what the characters are doing. What is important is that they hear your words, see the pictures and start to develop positive feelings about books. You can read the same book more than once, highlighting different things and asking different questions.

Keep It Simple Try to choose books that are sturdy, short and have simple, colorful pictures.

Snuggle Up Hold your young child in your lap as you read so they can see the pictures and feel cozy.

Speak with Expression Use an exaggerated voice and facial expressions to make it more interesting! Use a different voice for each character.

Actively Involve Them As your baby develops coordination, involve them more in the reading experience. Let them hold the book or turn the pages.

Follow Their Lead Let your child guide the reading experience. When they start to lose interest, try another book or stop. Not being forced to keep going will keep them excited about reading!

Name That Name and talk about the parts of the pictures that interest your child or that they point at.

Warm Up Before you open the book, check out the cover. Read the title. Look at the picture. Ask your child what they think the book might be about.

Help Them Follow Along Point to the words and pictures. This helps your child understand how reading works. For example, we read from left to right on the page.

Don’t Be Too Serious Make it fun! Your child may want to turn the page before you’ve finished it. If they can’t sit still for the whole book, that’s okay.

Act It Out Your child might be inspired to play based on the stories you read. Can they follow the characters’ actions? What toys or objects might be props?

Help Them Build Vocabulary Practice saying new words with your child as you read. Point to pictures that relate to the new word. Create a “kid-friendly” definition for the word and ask questions about the word.

Ask Questions Ask both basic and open-ended questions. Basic questions are things about the story that won’t change over time. “What is the boy’s name?” “What color are the dog’s spots?” Open-ended questions allow the child to use imagination and apply knowledge. “What do you think will happen next?” or “Why is the girl happy?” Respond to your child’s comments and questions. Show interest in their ideas.

Make Connections Help your child make personal connections to the stories you read. For example, “Do you remember when we saw the fire truck? How did it sound?”

These tips will help you make reading fun for your child and start them on a path to lifelong reading and learning.

For a complete list of tips provided by each organization, visit their websites by clicking on the links below:

Guilford Basics Read and Discuss Stories

Read Charlotte Active Reading

Kelly McKee

Kelly McKee, Vice President of Operations

Kelly McKee began serving as Vice President of Operations for Ready for School, Ready for Life just a few months after joining the team full time in June 2020 as Operations Manager.

Prior to June 1, Kelly worked for Ready Ready part-time from 2015-2017 on 100-Day Challenge Teams, Action Learning Teams, monthly newsletters, website updates, and social media accounts. Kelly also worked for late Senator Kay Hagan in 2015-2016 writing speeches for Senator Hagan’s public appearances.

Kelly started her career as an English instructor at Rockingham Community College and as a high school English teacher. In addition to her professional experiences, Kelly has volunteered extensively in Greensboro for organizations such as Community Housing Solutions, Backpack Beginnings, Horsepower, and Raising a Reader. Kelly is a 2015 graduate of Leadership Greensboro and was a 2016 Leadership Greensboro Program Chair. In 2018, she served as the President of the Junior League of Greensboro where she developed an interest in nonprofit governance, strategic planning, and operations. She is a 2020 graduate of the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits: Nonprofit Management Institute.

Kelly holds a BA in English from the UNC Greensboro and an MA in English from North Carolina State University. She is married with three daughters.