A nonprofit organization in Rock Island is expanding its contributions to local families, giving children early education and services, after receiving $1,845,266 from federal funding.
Project NOW strives to combat the origins of poverty and improve conditions for low-income individuals from Rock Island, Mercer and Henry Counties.
The Head Start program focuses on giving children with fewer opportunities a helping hand in gaining cognitive, social, and emotional development at an early age.
These opportunities include health screenings, nutritious meals, family support services, classes for preschool-age kids, transportation for families, and infrastructure improvements for Head Start locations to help lay the foundation for the long-term success of a child’s life.
Head Start is located in buildings that have been utilized for quite some time by the community to increase commute efficiency, especially for those without adequate transportation means available.
Illinois 17th District Congressman Eric Sorensen helped land the federal funding from the Department of Health and Human Services, after the organization was in the application queue for the grant’s most recent 5-year cycle.
Sorensen announced the awarded funding last week by the Department of Health and Human Services.
“When we invest in our kids and support working families, we strengthen our entire community. I’m proud to advocate for programs like Head Start that give every child a fair shot from the very start,” Sorensen said in an email statement.
Project Now CEO and President Reverend Dwight Ford spoke on how they focus on children 5 and below—the most important years for cognitive and communicative abilities that build a solid foundation for their future.
“What you learn today is a building block for what you'll learn tomorrow. And early childhood education is that first initial step to the learning experience. And also the socialization of our very young children and their world becomes expanded because of such,” Ford said.
They hope to expand the level of opportunities post-graduation for every child going through their program.
Ford’s road to becoming a reverend and CEO is one of the stories showcasing the success of Head Start, as he is a graduate, and his mother was an early childhood education for the program for over 30 years.
Passing on the torch to future generations, Ford says the funding will additionally boost the program’s opportunities for employment and career advancement.
“We're able to hire someone with a GED for certain positions in Head Start. Then we're able to resource them through these types of dollars to allow for them to get their certification CDA's, and then we're able to resource them to obtain an associate. And then we're able to resource them to be able to obtain a bachelor's degree,” Ford said.
Many are a part of the Head Start family, having children in the program, and Ford hopes they will stay after being hired and taken through those positive stages that impact their lives for the better, until being able to retire.
For the community as a whole, Head Start contracts with various smaller initiatives, training and support services, in addition to local eateries, to benefit infrastructure in need of repair.
Project NOW and Head Start would not be possible without the community, and Ford is grateful for them all, from their employees to Sorensen and beyond.
“[T]o do this work requires that we do it among others. Project NOW is by design the tip of the spear. We are designed to be out front because of our mission, and we're the oldest antipoverty network in this country. We were meant to be out front, but we were never meant to be alone,” Ford said. “We share the risk, but we also share the rewards, and that's what this effort is really about.”
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