Fed Recovery Funds

Federal Recovery Funds Aid Head Start Allentown Expansion
Allentown, PA – Good news for preschool children of low-income families in Allentown came from the federal government granting American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds to Community Services for Children for 20 additional Head Start slots. CSC has received $763,615 in ARRA funding, including this grant for $193,045.

CSC’s successful grant will provide a 12-month, 6-hour a day Head Start classroom experience for 20 children and family support programs in Allentown’s new Youth Success Zone. The center-based preschool program will include a research-based curriculum, community-based programming, nutritional meals and snacks daily, comprehensive family services and parent involvement opportunities, coordination with the neighborhood Youth Success Zone, health and nutrition support services, and resources and referrals as needed.

The new classroom will be located in the former St. Michael’s Church, 9th and Turner Streets in Allentown, where three other Head Start classrooms are located. This location is in the heart of the Youth Success Zone.

This will bring the total number of Head Start classrooms in Allentown to 24 (although as of this writing 6 remain closed due to Pennsylvania’s lengthy budget impasse). With the addition of this funding and when all Head Start/PreK Counts classrooms are open and in conjunction with the Head Start-Allentown School District collaboration, about 67% of the most vulnerable preschool children in Allentown would be enrolled.

Children of extreme poverty – Head Start’s children and families – are most likely to enter kindergarten a year or more behind their more advantaged peers and seldom cross the gap without quality early education and family assistance. In the 2008-09 school year, 88% of CSC’s Head Start children began the year significantly behind their peers, however 93% completed the school year ready for kindergarten.

The Youth Success Zone in Allentown is patterned after the successful Harlem Children’s Zone founded by Geoffrey Canada. Allentown leaders have forged a powerful team to organize and coordinate activities to fight poverty. The model focuses primarily and intensively on the social, health, and educational development of children. The Founder’s Team includes Susan Gilmore, CEO, United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley; Alicia Ruiz Orbin, Director of the Zone, United Way; Dr. Karen Angello, Superintendent, Allentown School District; The Honorable Ed Pawlowski, Mayor, City of Allentown; Bob Wood, Executive, Sodexo; Alan Jennings, Executive Director, Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley; Ed Meehan, Executive Director, The Dorothy Rider Pool Health Care Trust; Lou Liebhaber, Chair, Fundamental Success Consulting; Tim Holt, Community Relations, Air Products; and Vicky Kistler, Director, Allentown Health Bureau.