$375K Grant Gets More Preschoolers Ready for Success.
The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation provides for a second FACES Preschool Classroom
PHOENIX, AZ. (June 7, 2013)- The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, which provides critical funds at critical times to programs striving to make a difference, has awarded a grant of $375,000 over three years for Crisis Nursery’s FACES Early Childhood Education program. The grant will enable the center to open and operate a new preschool for at-risk three and four year-olds.
“We are very excited to receive this grant which will allow us to fill a second preschool classroom at our center. Our goal is to continue to provide comprehensive quality child development programs and to support parents with their family, personal and job related goals,” said Kristin Andrew, director of the FACES (Families and Children Experiencing Success).
With this new funding, the second preschool classroom will increase FACES total enrollment by 15% in neighborhoods where quality education and supportive services are scarce.
“Bob and I believe that Crisis Nursery is changing the future of some of the most underserved children in our community,” said Renee Parsons. “Through the FACES program these children are given a foundation on which to develop a love of learning and stable, healthy relationships.”
The year-round, full day program at the Virginia G. Piper Child and Family Center and the home based program offer low teacher-child ratios and small group sizes so children have opportunities to form healthy attachments with their teachers. Children receive two meals and two snacks daily to meet their nutritional needs and are exposed to myriad opportunities to develop the physical, social and emotional skills they will need to succeed in school. In partnership with parents, the total needs of each child and their families are continually assessed to develop goals and intervention strategies that build on family strengths.
“Without Bob & Renee Parsons’ tremendous support, some of the most vulnerable children in our community would not receive the critical services to help them thrive and prepare them for kindergarten and beyond,” explains Marsha Porter, executive director of Crisis Nursery.