ABSTRACT

Chance Early Learning Center will offer the community an opportunity for career development and early learning creative opportunities through the Chance for Change Project. Chance Early Learning Center services 120 families where 85% is represented by families within the community. The percent of families without a high school diploma or who suffer unemployment is a shocking 39%, almost half of the learning center’s enrollment. Families within the community lack knowledge and resources beyond normal support that could promote a better quality of life. Ultimately the children’s academic, physical, and social-emotional development is at risk as an effect of their socio-economic status. Parental education is a known model of educational expectations for children. This issue along with dangerous environmental factors and lack of cultural exposure show the need for quality experiences outside of program hours. The four-week Chance for Change Project addresses these issues head on by providing families resources for GED prep and examination process, professional development, and career search. The Chance for Change project will provide the children of these families with creative and fine art opportunities to help create experiences that might have been missed. All families participating in the program will receive a hot breakfast, hot lunch, and small snack to meet nutritional needs that promote attention span and healthy mealtime habits and education. Sponsors of the Chance for Change Project hope to provide families an opportunity for a better quality of life through professional development and employment opportunities. Chance for Change will meet children where they are academically and emotionally to hopefully create experiences that encourage overall development.