NONPROFIT by KELSEY CIPOLLA
Giving Kids a Head Start. When Growing Futures launched in 1965, it was one of the first Head Start programs in the country. More than 50 years later, the Johnson County nonprofit is still providing early education opportunities and family support services to the community – and the job is only getting bigger, says Director of Development and Community Relations Jessica Hoffman. “Poverty has continued to increase,” she says. “Right now, there are over 32,000 people in Johnson County who are living below the poverty threshold.” More than 3,000 of those Johnson County residents are children 5 and under, according to United Community Services of Johnson County data, and thousands more people earn just over the threshold, which is $21,780 for a family of three. During the past decade, Johnson County's population grew by 20 percent, but the number of people living in poverty increased by 134 percent. While Growing Futures started by serving 17 preschoolers in 1965, today it serves over 222 kids annually and maintains a waitlist filled with other kids and families who have need of the nonprofit’s services.
A HELPING HAND Growing Futures is one of several Head Start programs serving Johnson County. President Lyndon B. Johnson announced the Head Start program in the same year Growing Futures was founded, and although offerings have evolved over the decades, the nationwide program aims to promote the health and school readiness of infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children from low-income families in communities around the country. Growing Futures offers numerous programs to address those needs. Home-based Early Head Start serves pregnant women, infants, and toddlers up to age 3, providing home visits and group socialization activities that promote secure parent-child relationships and supports parents in offering quality early-learning experiences. Children 6 weeks to 3 years old can participate in the Early Head Start, a program based on site at Growing Future’s Early Education Center. An on-site preschool program is also available for kids 3 to 5 years old.
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