Community Learning Center Institute

“As a result of the grant we received from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, we have intensified our focus on early childhood education to better prepare children for K-8 education. We have been intentional in our work to expand and promote the community learning center as a hub for families with children from birth to kindergarten with quality pre-school, family play and learn, and the integration of community preschool programs with the kindergarten and primary school teachers. Families of young children were also connected to the other services at our community learning centers including the health clinics, vision center, and dental clinics. A food pantry, clothes closet, and other financial supports were made available to families of young children at our community learning centers to strengthen the connection of young families to their neighborhood school. To further support families of young children, we also added a Director of Housing to coordinate the planning and develop the partnerships necessary to prevent homelessness, reduce mobility, and increase home ownership. We facilitated a community-wide planning process in our poorest and most blighted neighborhood with residents, agencies, teachers, students and local government to capture the vision and priorities of the community to guide a housing revitalization initiative as well as a strategy for employment and family economic security. Responsive to the community plan, we developed a partnership with Habitat for Humanity and were able to match a family of three preschool children facing homelessness with the program and worked closely with them throughout the summer to enable them to purchase a new home. The most critical issue we have started to address is the high rate of poverty and resulting insecurity of families with young children. We hired a part-time consultant to help us find the most effective models which would be most appropriate for the demographics and circumstances in our neighborhoods. We also completed a thorough mapping of the extant programs in Cincinnati and developed relationships with local employers and employment assistance programs. We also learned more about the real barriers that challenge our families and started developing customized, individualized strategies than extant job training classes and programs offer. We have added a Director of Research and Evaluation to track data and assess progress.”

“A copy of the completed Form 990 was provided to each member of the board electronically prior to filing. Written approval was provided by each board member.”

“The Conflict of Interest Policy was enacted on August 16, 2009. Board members are required to sign a conflict of interest disclosure statement on an annual basis.”

“The governing documents ard conflict of interest policy are available to the public upon request to the Executive Director.”

“This program is explained in the answer to part iii 91885. 0. 0.”