The Ripple Effect: Growing our childcare system
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From the desk of Harvest Foundation President Kate Keller
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As we are wrapping up the summer, we are preparing for a Fall Summit focusing on Early Childhood Education. This will be an inspiring event dedicated to shaping a system that supports the future of our youngest learners. This summit, scheduled for Oct. 8 at New College Institute, promises to be an eye-opening experience for employers, educators, policymakers, and community leaders alike.
Early childhood education is more than just a stepping stone and babysitting; it’s the foundation upon which the future of our community is built. Research consistently shows that the first five years of a child’s life are critical for their overall development. During this formative period, the groundwork for cognitive, social, and emotional skills is laid. High-quality early education helps children develop the skills necessary for lifelong learning and success.
Investing in early childhood education yields impressive returns, not only for the individual child but for society as a whole. Studies reveal that children who participate in quality early education programs are more likely to perform well academically, have better social skills, and are less likely to engage in criminal behavior in the future. Additionally, these programs often bridge the gap for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, providing them with opportunities they might not otherwise have.
The Fall Summit will convene a diverse assembly of experts and stakeholders to explore the benefits of early childhood education, focusing on balancing the childcare system to make it affordable for parents, sustainable for centers, and supportive of workforce and community growth.
Your involvement in this space is crucial. By coming together as a community, we can drive meaningful change and ensure that every child has access to high-quality education from the start. Whether you are an employer trying to understand the needs of your workforce, an educator looking for better ways to provide services, or an advocate seeking to change policies, your voice and perspective are invaluable.
We believe that through collaboration and shared commitment, we can address the challenges and leverage the opportunities in early childhood education. Let’s work together to build a brighter future for our children, and by extension, for our entire community. Please join us on October 8th!
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Pictured are participants of the COPE simulation at Patrick & Henry Community College on Wednesday, Aug. 28.
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More than 140 attend COPE at Patrick & Henry Community College
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More than 140 community members gathered Wednesday morning at Patrick & Henry Community College to participate in The Cost of Poverty Experience (COPE), an immersive simulation designed to bring the harsh realities of poverty to life. For two and a half hours, participants stepped into the shoes of real families living in poverty, navigating the complex challenges of daily survival.
Upon arrival, each participant received an orange folder containing the profiles of the family members they would represent during the simulation. Volunteers staffed booths representing essential services like housing, utilities, transportation, banking, food markets, law enforcement, and more. The simulation spanned a month in the lives of these families, with each 15-minute interval representing a week.
As the simulation unfolded, many families faced eviction, had their vehicles repossessed, or saw their utilities cut off. Some even encountered incarceration. The experience was eye-opening, exposing the participants to the overwhelming and often insurmountable obstacles that people in poverty face every day. The goal was to not only raise awareness but also to foster meaningful dialogue and inspire action.
Following the simulation, participants gathered in a large circle to share their experiences. Emotions ran high as many expressed feelings of defeat, stress, and frustration over the difficulty of accessing essential services and securing employment. These powerful discussions continued over lunch, where small groups tackled guided discussion questions aimed at challenging existing perceptions and exploring the gaps in community resources.
The experience underscored a sobering reality: over 40% of U.S. households struggle to afford basic necessities, forcing them to make tough choices and take significant risks daily. COPE, developed by ThinkTank—a nonprofit organization dedicated to amplifying the human stories of poverty—serves as a critical tool in helping communities understand and address these challenges. For more information about COPE, visit thinktank-inc.org.
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Community members attend the Martinsville Food Truck Pull-Up & Cruise-In on Aug. 10 in Uptown Martinsville. Photo courtesy of City of Martinsville.
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From Cardinal News: Martinsville and the city of Franklin are growing younger faster than any other places in Virginia
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By Dwayne Yancey
August 22, 2024
A quarter-century ago, the economies in many communities across Southwest and Southside simply collapsed — textiles and furniture jobs disappeared just like that.
In places that once had tobacco jobs, they didn’t have those anymore, either.
The twin epicenters of those economic traumas were Danville and Martinsville, but only because they were the biggest communities. We saw similar stories across the southern tier of Virginia, be it Halifax County or Pulaski County or lots of other places. Ever since, they’ve been on a generational quest to reinvent themselves.
A new batch of U.S. Census Bureau data shows just how well some of them have succeeded (and highlights some other communities that still have work to do).
The markers are found in demographics, which are bound up with economics in many ways. Ronald Reagan was fond of saying that “people vote with their feet,” meaning that people leave economically unsuccessful places and move to economically successful ones. He was right. Population increases, and decreases, can tell us a lot about the economy of a place. We’ve also come to understand how much the workforce matters to the modern economy — once people moved to where the jobs were (and some still do), but we also now have companies moving to where the workers are. By that measure, a community with a declining population isn’t very attractive because it means the labor pool is declining. What employers really like are communities where the labor pool is growing — and is also relatively young, because that guarantees long-term prospects.
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Governor Glenn Youngkin participates in a bill signing ceremony at Anthony Seeger Hall on August 15, 2024. Official Photo by Christian Martinez, Office of Governor Glenn Youngkin.
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Governor Glenn Youngkin Signs Legislation Supporting Building Blocks for Virginia Families
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE · August 16, 2024
CONTACTS:
Office of the Governor
Contact: Christian Martinez
Email: Christian.Martinez@governor.virginia.gov
RICHMOND, VA – Yesterday, Governor Glenn Youngkin signed ten bipartisan bills, marking a pivotal milestone for Building Blocks for Virginia Families, an initiative designed to expand available child care options and empower working families across the Commonwealth by ensuring parents have the support they need to thrive in today’s workforce. This historic moment for Virginia families took place at Anthony Seeger Hall at James Madison University, home to the JMU Young Children’s Program, an early learning center that serves children ages two to five years.
“We are sending a clear signal that Virginia is committed to ensuring a quality education for our children, empowering working moms and dads, and embracing participation -- the foundational building blocks for not just family, but also for opportunity,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “With Building Blocks for Virginia Families, we are taking concrete steps to unleash opportunity across the Commonwealth, and make Virginia the very best place to live, work, and raise a family.”
“The historic investments made in innovative approaches through the Building Blocks initiative further strengthens Virginia’s best in class early childhood education system,” said Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera. “More children will be served by high quality early care, more parents will be able to work, and more employers will be able to grow thanks to this bipartisan investment. When our children thrive, Virginia thrives.”
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RIDE Solutions: Commuter Assistance Program
Strategic Plan Survey
RIDE Solutions, which serves as the commuter assistance program for the West Piedmont Region and is a subsidiary of the statewide ConnectingVA commuter resources program, is developing a strategic plan to identify commuter and general transportation needs in our region, as well as strategies to meet those needs.
The plan will identify gaps for, and opportunities to, more effectively allocate alternative modes of transportation including transit (bus) service, carpooling, vanpooling, and to a lesser extent, bicycling throughout the region, and perhaps beyond.
COVID and changing dynamics in our region have continued to shape how and where residents work and travel for their work and non-work trips alike; therefore, this plan will help us to identify the latest trends and to plan for them accordingly.
This plan would be incomplete without your input, so we encourage you to take a brief survey to help us understand where you believe the greatest transportation needs are and how we can address them – even if you don’t commute or are not currently in the workforce. The survey will be available until Sunday, September 15th.
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| Pass GO and get $5,000 paid toward your student loans!
If approved, you can get an annual payment of $5,000 as a principal payment on your student loans over 10 years — for a maximum of $50,000!
Visit our website to find out more and apply today!
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There's always something fun to do in
Martinsville-Henry County.
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One of Uptown Martinsville's pocket parks, located on Fayette Street.
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Make an impact in your community. Share your HOPE.
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We welcome your voice and ideas at The Harvest Foundation.
Our general responsive grants cycle is open year-round with consideration from our Board of Directors once a quarter. Our PUP Small Grants Program is an open process with decisions made in less than six weeks. Project Hope grants support small, grassroots projects with immediate impact.
The Harvest Youth Board has a $5,000 grant opportunity available for projects and programs that serve youth in Martinsville-Henry County.
Give our office a call to schedule an appointment with a program officer.
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About The Harvest Foundation:
The Harvest Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 2002 by the sale of Memorial Hospital. In partnership with the diverse people and organizations that call MHC home, we serve as a long-term catalyst, advocate, and investor to make our community a welcoming place where all can thrive. Our vision is a community where everyone shares in the promise of an MHC that is healthy, prosperous, and vibrant. To date, the foundation has invested more than $170 million in grant dollars back into the community and has an annual grants budget of roughly $10-12 million. To find out more about Harvest, visit www.theharvestfoundation.org.
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