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Who are the key players in the Partnership for Families Northside?
The Partnership for Families Northside, Inc.
- is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization which helps facilitate, coordinate and promote the delivery of services by the Partners
- is an initiative of the Robins Foundation, which supports the Partnership.
The Partners
- are established 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations which provide the programs and services needed by Northside families to prepare their children for success in school as well as their own programs and services needed throughout the Richmond community;
- are funded by public and private support, including the Robins Foundation's funding for the delivery of the Partnership’s programs and services to families in Northside Richmond.
The Robins Foundation
- is a family foundation with a $5 million annual grant-making program in Richmond
- invited a dozen organizations to join it as investors-partners in what is now the Partnership
- refers to the Partners as “Investors” because they each bring tangible resources and funding to the Partnership in addition to work undertaken with Robins Foundation grants
- formed and supports a continuum of programs and services which will comprehensively help prepare children from prenatal to age five years for success in school and in life
- The Robins Foundation is prepared to commit up to $1.8 million annually to the Partnership over the next several years.
Why did the Partnership choose Northside Richmond as its project site?
The Partnership chose Richmond’s “Northside” because it has a blend of affluent, middle-income and low-income neighborhoods that is representative of the City as a whole and therefore is the ideal site for the Partnership’s “universal” model project. The Partnership wishes to serves all families. It is also recognized that the needs of all families may be more extensive than is commonly assumed because of the added stress and pressures due to:
- the family's distance from parents/grandparents and their extended family
- both parents working outside of the home or parents not working
- shorter hospital stays for newborns
- shorter leaves of absence from work for new parents.
Where are the Partnership and Partners providing their programs and services?
The Partnership’s programs and services are being offered in schools, children’s homes, places of worship, community centers, pediatricians' offices and other neighborhood sites in Northside.
How will the Partnership evaluate the project’s progress and success?
The Partnership will evaluate the progress and success of its programs and services by determining the level of school readiness of the approximately 440 children who enter kindergarten each year at the following five public elementary schools serving Northside Richmond.
- G. W. Carver Elementary
- Ginter Park Elementary and Mary Scott Annex
- Linwood Holton Elementary
- Overby-Sheppard Elementary
- Stuart Elementary
What has the Partnership accomplished during its first years?
- Investor Council created to advise and guide the project
- Robins Foundation grants awarded to current partners for services provision
- Home visiting services serves approximately 200 families
- Federally-funded Even Start and Early Reading First grants awarded and their work begun. Currently these grants are ending; best practices are being incorporated.
- Parent resource center in North Avenue and Ginter Park branch libraries created. Children's libraries are now in place at both sites.
- Additional family day care providers are consistently being enrolled in continuing professional education and accreditation programs
- Partnership brokered deal that preserved 34 Head Start slots which were about to be moved to another jurisdiction.
- Supported early child care programs.
- Supported the establishment of the Northside Medical Center as Captial Areal Health Network (formerly known as the Vernon J. Harris Clinic).
What are the Partnership’s plans and goals for this year?
- Continue creating and implementing a variety of marketing/communications initiatives that encompass outreach to parents and the Northside community and informing the public about the Partnership and early childhood learning opportunities
- Continue the evaluation process
- Strengthening local government participation in the Partnership’s work
- Empowering citizens and parents to join the Citizen's Advisory Group (C.A.G.)
- Establishing a volunteer program that creates a range of volunteer opportunities
- Planning for a facility for the Partnership
- Building a network to improve medical, mental and dental health services in Northside
- Managing the case management system for identification, cross-referrals, and follow-up that establishes accountability for results and has the ability to track all Northside preschoolers
- Identifying more infants at birth and offering at least one service to all families in Northside
- Developing a long-range financial plan that shows how third-party grants can be blended with Robins Foundation funding to help the Partnership sustain and expand its services.
- Providing Healthy Stages to new mothers and to all parents of children (infants through five years of age).
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©2006, 2008 Partnership for Families Northside
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Children are born ready to learn. The brain is the only organ that is not fully
formed at birth. During the first three years, trillions of connections between
brain cells are being made.
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