Grantee Profile: TrainingGrounds

tRaininggRounds: cReating a community of suppoRt foR eaRly childhood development

IMH provided a $20,000 grant in 2017 to support the expansion of TrainingGrounds’ We PLAY Center to a larger facility and recently committed to an additional grant of $30,000 in 2020 to expand its programming.

TrainingGrounds assists families, educators and communities in strengthening the foundation on which children can succeed.

TrainingGrounds was founded in 2016 by social entrepreneurs Melanie Richardson, LMSW and Christine Neely, M.Ed. to address the gap they saw in supporting parents and caregivers with young children. They bring to TrainingGrounds a combined 40 years of experience in child development, education, and family services with organizations like the Louisiana Children’s Museum, the Parenting Center at Children’s Hospital, and the New Orleans Health Department.

They created the We PLAY Center to support caregivers and children, birth to age three, in developing school readiness skills and learning nurturing parenting strategies. With nearly 10,000 low-income families in Orleans Parish alone who do not have access to a quality early care and education that they can afford, the We PLAY Center provides a valuable alternative that supports parents and caregivers in promoting healthy child development in a child’s first years when 90% of brain development occurs.

September 12, 2017

“TrainingGrounds was the perfect choice for my son and me. He’s come completely out of his shell and because of TrainingGrounds, he’s consistently learning new skills that’s going to help him throughout his life. As a new first time mom, I’m learning things that are teaching me how to communicate better with my two-year-old. I recommend anyone with a child age 0-3 come to Training Grounds. You definitely won’t regret it.”

November 20, 2019

“Amari is now in the PreK-4 program at St. Leo the Great. He absolutely loves school. His teachers said that he’s always willing to learn, he’s a fast learner and his social skills are excellent. His first report card was very good! I mentioned to his teachers that he was a part of We PLAY TrainingGrounds and they are very familiar with the program. Amari got his start at We PLAY and he’s doing great in school because of it!

– Kristyn, TrainingGrounds parent

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Parents at the We PLAY Center consistently indicate that participation improves their skills, knowledge, and awareness to support the healthy development of their children:

83% of parents reported a stronger bond with their child.

70% reported an improved understanding of healthy child development.

67% reported feeling better able to meet the social and emotional needs of their children.

In addition to the We PLAY Center, TrainingGrounds offers learning experience workshops for parents and professional development training for early childhood educators and civic leaders. In 2019, this included a workshop on Brain Architecture for city leaders, offered in partnership with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, and a screening of No Small Matter, a feature-length documentary on early care and education, which was attended by more than 100 community members.

In the first three quarters of 2019, TrainingGrounds:

Served 855 unique individuals from 355 families through its We PLAY Center at Sojourner Truth Neighborhood Center.

Provided 24 Parent Learning Opportunities (workshops) to assist caregivers with their role as first teachers.

Trained 613 professionals through 19 professional development workshops about the science of brain development and best practices in early childhood development.

Engaged more than 30 partners – from Agenda for Children and Kingsley House to the Nurse Family Partnership and Louisiana Department of Child and Family Services – in delivering programming, including professional development training, parent learning experiences, and referrals for services.

Participated in 12 community-based resource fairs to promote the We PLAY Center.