Board of Directors
Becki Streit, Chair
Bob Tucker, Vice-Chair
Rupa Datta, Secretary
Julie Stevens, Treasurer
Charisse Burns
Dana Garner
Louise Gates
Lisa Ginet
Gordon Hellwig
Marion Ivey
Elizabeth Lippitt
Gina Lowell
John Mayes
Mark Smylie
Strong Start,
Bright Future.
171 S. Oak Park Avenue
Oak Park, IL 60302
708-613-6122
Dear Partner,
As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we are in the midst of an exciting era of growth, change, and opportunity here at the Collaboration for Early Childhood.
Just this fall, we are welcoming new staff members to our team, and embarking on an innovative partnership with Wonder Works Children’s Museum to connect even more families to early childhood programs and support. We are building a new strategic plan, which we began this past spring, and we are supporting the early childhood community in its continuing recovery from the impacts of the pandemic.
We are busy. That is because our work is more important now than ever before.
We need your support to ensure every young child has the care and resources needed to thrive and begin school safe, healthy, and empowered to succeed.
This past program year, your support helped us to direct families to a variety of resources including:
- Free preschool and program openings,
- Home visiting, and
- Early intervention and early childhood special education services.
Each of these connections represents a step toward the hope and healing we all need.
Your contribution made workshops about parenting through a pandemic, potty training, and special education rights possible. You forged a direct connection between early childhood program directors and the Village of Oak Park’s Public Health Department to share important health updates and resources to keep our children safe. You helped us to distribute over 100 baby bundles filled with information and goodies to new and expecting parents in our community. Your support resulted in over 1,700 children receiving developmental screenings and a grateful father who wrote us to let us know his daughter was thrilled to get her first pair of glasses after a routine vision screening.
Your gift this season will strengthen our community’s web of support so that we can lift up everyone into hope.
So much important work lies on the horizon for this extraordinary agency created and supported by our whole community. We hope that you will be a part of it again this year.
Sincerely,
Laura Crawford
Interim Executive Director
Collaboration for Early Childhood