Durham's Partnership for Children is partnering with MomsRising to throw a party for parents and kids to get together for pizza and paper dolls on Thursday, May 10 from 5-7:30PM at White Rock Baptist Church.

As parents and early childhood professionals, we know how critical affordable, quality early child care, access to preschool, and early learning programs are for all North Carolina families.

To call attention to the importance of children's issues, MomsRising is organizing a creative action for the May legislative session- "Toddlers Create Life-Size Paper Dolls to Encourage Legislators to Stand Up for Early Learning." MomsRising will display the dolls at the NC General Assembly along with facts, quotes from parents, and other information on the importance of early learning.

The message will be that while the dolls may be two-dimensional, our children are not. Well-rounded, quality care is critical to the future of each child in North Carolina. Join us on Thursday, May 10 to show our legislators that NC mothers and families support funding quality early learning programs. We'll supply dinner, paper dolls, and lots of fun! All you need ot bring is your child!

Thursday, May 10th 5-7:30PM
White Rock Baptist Church, 3400 Fayetteville St, Durham, NC 27707
RSVP to Beth@momsrising.org
Questions? Contact Beth at Beth@momsrising.org or 919.323.6179

We would like to thank the Durham City Council for recognizing this week as the Week of the Young Child. A Proclamation was read and our public service announcement was shown at the City Council meeting on April 16th.

We also want to thank the Durham Board of County Commissioners for proclaiming this week as the Week of the Young Child at their April 23rd meeting.

The proclamation emphasizes the work of Durham's Partnership for Children, Child Care Services Assocation and all of our partners in serving children and their families during the critical early years. Birth to 5 is when the foundation for all later success in school and life is laid, and the proclamations urge the Durham community to recognize the importance of high quality early childhood programs for all children.

Thanks to our local goverment partners for helping to direct public attention to early childhood. We are excited to see the community of Durham continue to make young children a priority during this week and beyond!

In these difficult economic times, have you ever considered an investment in early childhood as a way to help turn the tide? An investment in early childhood is in fact one of the strongest you can make, with every $1 returning up to $17. Children who experience high quality care and education in their earliest years are more likely to graduate high school, attend college, and find gainful employment, escaping the cycle of poverty. They are less likely to commit crimes, require remedial training or corrective solutions, be unemployed, rely on federal assistance, become teen parents or abuse drugs.

A guest colum by North Carolina Partnership for Children Board member and Senior Vice President of Mechanics & Farmers Bank, Harold Sellars, appeared in last Sunday's Herald-Sun addressing the economic impact of early childhood in Durham. He discussed the jobs and revenue created by the early childhood system in Durham, along with the support it provides to working families. Harold tied this issue to the Week of the Young Child theme, "Early Years are Learning Years," stressing that the early education of our young children today will result in a more competent workforce in 2030. Harold encouraged community members to show their support of early childhood by attending restaurant fundraisers to benefit Durham's Partnership for Children this week.

To read the full column, click here.

For more information on the Week of the Young Child fundraising events, click here.

The Week of the Young Child has arrived! This week, themed "Early Years are Learning Years," is a time to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families, and to recognize the programs that serve them.

As part of the celeration, Durham's Partnership for Children held a Week of the Young Child Poster Contest. We have received hundreds of entries, and to determine the winner we brought together a diverse group of staff and Board judges. Today, we are pleased to announce the winners and top entries for our categories, 4 and 5 year olds. Our 4 year old winner is Sam M., followed by top entries by Danica L. and Marliana P. For 5 year olds our winner is Owen D., with top entries by Deen S. and Jordan H. Each of our winners will be receiving a library of 15 early childhood books! To view our top 25 entries, check out the "WOYC Poster Contest" album on the Partnership Facebook page. We thank of all of the children and child care centers who participated for making our first poster contest a success! 

You can help the Partnership celebrate this week by attending our restaurant fundraising events. A portion of the proceeds from these events will go to Durham's youngest learners. We thank these local businesses for supporting early childhood in Durham:

Monday, April 23rd 5PM-10PM: Alivia’s Durham Bistro
900 W Main St • Durham, NC 27701
Tuesday, April 24th 5PM-7PM: Bull City Burger & Brewery
107 E Parrish St • Suite 105 • Durham, NC 27701
Wednesday, April 25th All Day: Vita
2200 W Main St • B130 • Durham, NC 27705
Thursday, April 26th All Day: Dos Perros
200 N Mangum St • Durham, NC 27701
Friday, April 27th All Day: Sweet Frog (Be sure to mention the Partnership when you pay for your order!)
6917 Fayetteville St • #103 • Durham, NC 27713

This week (April 15-21, 2012) is National Volunteer Week. The week is about inspiring, recognizing, and encouraging people to seek out new ways to engage in their communities. It is a time for taking action, urging individuals and their communities to be a part of social change, and to demonstrate the power in volunteers of positive transformation.

The Volunteer Center of Durham took time to celebrate volunteers throughout Durham and Orange Counties this week. At their Key Volunteer Recognition Ceremony on Monday, more than 15 awards were presented to all kinds of volunteers, from youths to seniors, individuals to groups, and faith-based to corporate. We congratulate all of the winners and nominees recognized at this event. To read more about the Key Volunteer awards, click here.

At Durham's Partnership for Children we are fortunate to have many volunteers contributing to our mission in a variety of ways. On our Board of Directors, as well as our Allocations, Community Awareness, Evaluation, Executive, Finance, Investment, NC Pre-K, and School Readiness Committees, members lend their expertise and passion for early childhood to governing and guiding our organization.

Moreover, every year we have interns who work closely with our Program and Evaluation department on special projects. Volunteers in our "Readers as Leaders" program read to young children in child care centers throughout Durham several times each month. Many of our volunteers go above and beyond the bounds of their role, getting involved with other programs and helping out with events like our NC Pre-K application blitz and Barnes & Noble wrapping day. Some of our community initiatives, such as the Early Childhood Faith Initiative, would not be possible without the hard work of the many community volunteers that guide our work.

The Partnership is always in need of more volunteers. This spring, we'll need volunteers to help assemble our "Blast Off to Kindergarten" kits for rising kindergarteners. We are also happy to host group events for corporate volunteers. Whether you are interested in anything from providing administrative support to working directly with the children we serve, we can find a volunteer role for you with the Partnership. To learn more about our volunteer activities, click here.

We would like to thank all of our volunteers for the extremely valuable work they do. Our volunteers make a world of difference in the lives of young children across Durham County. 

The Partnership, in collaboration with Durham Public Schools, has selected 9 recipients of the Transition to Kindergarten mini-grants. These grants support the planning and implementation of transition activities targeted at families with children entering kindergarten this fall. The goal of these grants is to foster collaboration between elementary school and early childhood educators around transition to kindergarten.

The recipients of more than $5,000 in funding include George Watts Montessori, Bethesda Elementary School, Early Explorers Playschool, Spring Valley Elementary School, RN Harris Integrated Arts Magnet School, Fayetteville St Elementary School, Oak Grove Elementary School, Holt Elementary School, and Little River Elementary School. Each recipient is partnering with another early childhood center or elementary school to bridge the gap between these two levels of education.

The winning proposals include plans for activities such as ice cream socials, school open houses, playground picnics and kindergarten camps. These activities give families the opportunity to do things like tour their child's future school, register for kindergarten, meet school personnel, and observe kindergarten classrooms. The activities aim to engage children and their families in the kindergarten experience to build excitement while also easing their anxiety about the coming fall.

We would like to thank all of the programs who applied for funding and congratulate our grant recipients. We look forward to seeing these exciting and creative projects in action in the coming months.

Durham's Partnership for Children received funding from Wells Fargo and Morgan Creek Foundation to support rising kindergarteners through Transition mini-grants and additional Transition to Kindergarten activities. To learn more about the Transition to Kindergarten Initiative, click here.

This month from the 22nd through the 28th communities across the nation will come together to celebrate the Week of the Young Child (WOYC). The WOYC, sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, is a time to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs that meet these needs. For this year's week, themed Early Years are Learning Years, the Durham community will have several opportunities to celebrate young children with events planned by Durham's Partnership for Children.

The Partnership, in collaboration with Child Care Services Association, has arranged to have WOYC proclamations read at the Durham City Council and Durham Board of County Commissioners April meetings. The City proclamation will be read at their Monday, April 16th meeting at 7PM, while the County will do the reading at their meeting Monday, April 23rd at 7PM. We invite community members to attend these readings to show their support of early childhood!

The Partnership has also planned a WOYC Poster Contest. More than 100 young children from child care centers across Durham have submitted their designs to the Partnership. The winning poster will be featured on our blog and Facebook page. The artist will also receive a library of 15 early childhood books. You can vote for your favorite by becoming a fan of our Facebook page and "liking" one of our top entries featured in the "WOYC Poster Contest" album. Be sure to follow our blog and Facebook to learn the winner during the WOYC.

Each day of the WOYC the Partnership will be teaming up with a different local restaurant to fundraise for Durham's youngest learners. A portion of the proceeds from these fundraisers will go to the Partnership to benefit Durham's birth to 5 population. Come enjoy some local favorites while making young children a priority in Durham. We thank local businesses for their sponsorship and the opportunity to bring greater community awareness to our cause!

Monday, April 23rd 5PM-10PM: Alivia's Durham Bistro
900 W Main St • Durham, NC 27701
Tuesday, April 24th 5PM-7PM: Bull City Burger & Brewery
107 E Parrish St • Suite 105 • Durham, NC 27701
Wednesday, April 25th All Day: Vita
2200 W Main St • B130 • Durham, NC 27705
Thursday, April 26th All Day: Dos Perros
200 N Mangum St • Durham, NC 27701
Friday, April 27th All Day: Sweet Frog (Be sure to mention you are there to support the Partnership when you pay for your order!)
6917 Fayetteville St • #103 • Durham, NC 27713

In a world made for and by adults, child safety is often overlooked in the design of our homes. Despite the fact that nearly 100,000 children are injured on stairs each year, many household staircases cannot accommodate child safety gates. Two-thirds of households cannot accommodate a wall-mounted stair gate at the top of the stairs, and about one-third of household staircases cannot accommodate a pressurized gate at the bottom. Moreover, parents cannot rely on pressurized gates at the top of the stairs since they tend to loosen over time.

Children 12 months of age and younger are at the highest risk for stair-related injuries, accounting for 32%. Among them, 25% are injured while in the arms of an adult. In many homes uneven or otherwise defective stairs can make these types of falls far more likely.

What can we do to prevent these types of injuries? In new home construction builders should ensure that staircases can accommodate wall-mounted gates. Parents can also make sure that staircases are clear of toys and other objects, and that children are always actively supervised on the stairs.

To prevent other types of falls in the home, parents of young children should:

• Move furniture away from windows
• Secure heavy furniture with wall-angle braces or anchors
• Install window stops
• Always strap baby into strollers, high chairs, swings and carriers
• Avoid placing toys on top of furniture

To read more about stair-related injuries in the home, click here

To learn more about child safety tips for the home, click here

Many nonprofit organizations do valuable work. At Durham's Partnership for Children, we see the importance of our work as we evaluate our programs and progress all the time. We know what works. The question is, how do you convince funders that it's working? How can you make corporations understand that investing in young children now will help our community in the long run? How do you attract more individual donors and run successful fundraising events?

As nonprofit Board members and staff, we are challenged each day to raise more funds in order to satisfy the growing needs of our communities. The Social Velocity blog recently shared some great tips on how Board members can raise money without fundraising. Their suggestions include:

• Recruit an in-kind service: If a Board member can eliminate an expense for your organization, they're directly improving your bottom-line. Find out if their company can provide any pro-bono services your agency needs.
• Email, call or visit a donor just to say "Thank You" : The vast majority of donors will give again if thanked in a timely manner.
• Provide intelligence on prospects: If a Board member knows a potential donor, they may be able to tell you what that person has given to in the past and at what level. The more information you have when going in for the ask, the better.
• Explain to a prospect why you serve: Hearing why a Board member is compelled to serve your organization in their own words can be extremely motivating to a potential donor.

To read the full blog post, click here.

If you're in Durham, you work at a nonprofit, and you have an interest in fundraising we hope you'll join us for our upcoming workshop, "Fundraising: What the Experts Won't Tell You" on Thursday, April 19th from 9:30AM-12:00PM. This workshop, part of our Tools You Can Use series, will be presented by Partnership Development Manager Ted Whiteside.

On Friday, March 30th Partnership Board member and volunteer Barbara VanDewoestine was honored for her commitment to early childhood with the Dorothy B. Graham Award. The award, presented at the Child Care Services Association's Triangle Child Care Awards Breakfast, recognizes individuals who have had an impact on the lives of young children in Durham County. The award is named for Dorothy Graham, a leader in early care and education in Durham County and statewide for more than 25 years. Graham herself was there to present the award to Barbara.

The Partnership had the privilege of nominating Barbara for her leadership, not only on our Board, but throughout the community as a whole. Barbara has been an active member of our Board of Directors since 2002. She has been a strong leader, chairing the Allocations Committee and serving on the Executive Committee. Barbara has always gone above and beyond her role as a Board member, participating in any events sponsored by the Partnership and jumping at opportunities to volunteer with the children we serve. Moreover, Barbara was a dedicated member of the Early Head Start Policy Council, impacting the lives of the many young children and families served by EHS, while also acting as a liaison between EHS and the DPfC Board. Furthermore, Barbara consistently advocates for young children in her church and neighborhood, motivating those around her to take action for children and their families.

Barbara VanDewoestine with her award and Partnership staff Jameka Wells, Laura Benson and Jeanette Maatouk

We are pleased to congratulate Barbara as she stands in Dorothy B. Graham's legacy of visionary leadership and selfless service to early childhood. We are fortunate to have someone of her caliber working on behalf of the Partnership's mission.