October 5, 2009

I am thrilled to report three very exciting projects that have just been funded involving Children’s Friend.

1) Ready To Learn Providence, a program of the Providence Plan, has been selected to receive a federal Early Reading First grant. Children’s Friend is one of 5 partners working with Ready To Learn Providence on this project. This grant will provide resources to our Central Falls Child Care program to help enhance the language, cognitive, and early reading skills of our pre-school children.

2) Children’s Friend has secured federal Head Start expansion funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This funding will allow us to operate 1 additional Head Start classroom and serve 18 more children and families.

3) The Rhode Island Foster Parents Association has secured a federal Family Connection grant through the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. Children’s Friend is one of 8 partners working with The Rhode Island Foster Parents Association on this project. Our Permanency Team will be involved in implementing this project with the goal of increasing the number of children who achieve permanency and stability in their living situations.

Thanks to the efforts and support of many people, Children’s Friend is able to continue to move forward in our work.