Nurturing Every Student Together Safely “As a community member, I was personally very concerned about how the academic gap was going to be addressed as the school district was preparing Return to Learn plans in the midst of COVID,” said Missie Forbes, Executive Director of 4C’s of Johnson County. With the impending start of school, concerns about childcare, access to technology, social-emotional support, and language barriers, among others, led the Community Foundation of Johnson County to join other organizations in developing the Neighborhood NESTS initiative to address these issues. Jennifer Banta, Iowa City Area Development Group, reflected, “I think the partnership itself is the biggest success. We’ve had everyone at the table from the beginning; this has truly been a community effort and we’ve been able to pool resources and assets to address some big challenges.”
Top photo: A student completes online learning under the Tree of Life at the Open Heartland Nest. Bottom photo: Students at the Open Heartland Nest work together on an activity.
Neighborhood NESTS (Nurturing Every Student Together Safely) serves as a conduit to open proctored safe sites where children and young adults can gather in small groups to complement the Iowa City Community School District Return to Learn plans. These safe sites allow the most vulnerable populations access to the resources they need to continue to learn alongside their classmates. The Neighborhood NESTS template can be modified and adapted for the unique needs of each neighborhood and will serve as a central resource for groups wishing to start up their own NESTS. The Community Foundation directly supports the work of this collaborative group through the creation of the Neighborhood NESTS Project Fund to collect financial support for the NESTS. Forbes hopes the Neighborhood NESTS continue in the future. She said, “COVID-19 pulled the curtain back on what have clearly been issues in our community and in our school district for some time. Our hope is that the idea of Neighborhood NESTS continues beyond COVID-19, as we begin to return to some sort of normal. Families and students will always need various supports. We also hope to grow the connection between what the schools have always provided and continue collaboration between schools, nonprofits, and municipalities. We live in such a great community to really develop how the NESTS idea can grow beyond our immediate need of addressing online/hybrid learning.”
“Open Heartland is so grateful for your support to empower us to help the immigrant families in our community! Thank you!” D EB D UN KHASE , O P E N H E A RT L AND NI DO DE APRE NDIZAJ E (LE ARNING NE ST )
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