Great by Eight: Another Great Year Making a Difference for Familieshttps://waytogrow.org/wp-content/themes/movedo/images/empty/thumbnail.jpg150150Way to GrowWay to Growhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/09f1d2145e67b2693c587ac4095c60a0?s=96&d=blank&r=g
Your support made 2012 a banner year for Way to Grow as we were able to extend our in-home education services to more families and prepare more kids to be ready for school. Check out some of our great achievements below.
HOME VISITS
Way to Grow completed a record-breaking 10,725 home visits in 2012. Every home visit we undertake strengthens our relationship within the family, helps us identify strengths and risks, and allows us to develop and achieve goals so the children can thrive.
REFERRALS FOR SERVICE
In 2012, Way to Grow made 2,362 referrals. Each referral connected a family in need to a partnering agency to access food, clothing, medical assistance, affordable housing, and other support services. These necessities are vital to foster a safe, healthy environment for children to learn and grow.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
As we reported in the fall, 80% of Way to Grow children achieved school-readiness when they entered kindergarten last year. The majority of these children were from backgrounds where English is not the primary language spoken in the home and who consistently have trouble passing literacy benchmarks. 92% of these students were screened by Minneapolis Public Schools for developmentally appropriate indicators as they entered school. These screenings help assess where the child is at developmentally, so additional instruction can be focused on areas requiring special attention.
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
Of the 124 elementary children we served throughout the 2011-2012 school year, we are proud to report that 77% are reading at, or above grade level.
Additionally, 92% of parents participated in BOTH of their child’s parent-teacher conferences and 89% of families attended a school event, often for the first time.
HEALTH EDUCATION
We are proud to report that 94% of full-term Way to Grow newborns were born at a normal birth weight or above. A normal or above-average birth weight helps ensure a more healthy life and leads to a reduction in learning problems or problems with development. We are also proud to report that 89% of our teen mothers did not have a repeat pregnancy.
Way to Grow Family Featured in Pioneer Presshttps://waytogrow.org/wp-content/themes/movedo/images/empty/thumbnail.jpg150150Way to GrowWay to Growhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/09f1d2145e67b2693c587ac4095c60a0?s=96&d=blank&r=g
Below is a great feature about one of Way to Grow’s families published in the Pioneer Press.
Jyakima is a single father whose holiday wish is full-time employment. In the meantime, he’s a full-time volunteer. What a guy!
Thanks to the Greater Twin Cities United Way for helping Jyakima’s wish come true!
Jyakima Cration is a volunteer the students and staff at the Little Earth Youth Development Center can count on.
As the kids flowed into the after-school program at the Minneapolis center on a recent afternoon, Cration was there — as usual — to help with homework.
“I have a lot of volunteers, but only two who are consistent, and one of those is Jyakima,” says Frank Downwind, the center’s youth services director. “With cutbacks and shortages in funding, consistent volunteers who can help with the kids are more important than ever.”
Cration, 37, a single father, was nominated for Holiday Wishes — the newspaper’s annual giving program with Greater Twin Cities United Way — by Way to Grow, an early-learning program.
“Jyakima was referred to Way to Grow through the Father Project,” wrote Jill Johnson, a Way to Grow spokeswoman. “He and his son, Saint, have been working with one of our family educators since February 2011.
“Throughout the past two years, Jyakima has many accomplishments under his belt. He graduated from the Father Project, a job-training program, now works with a temp agency, received full custody of his son and began mentoring teen boys at Little Earth. He has made huge strides in working toward financial stability.”
Sharing the Lovehttps://waytogrow.org/wp-content/themes/movedo/images/empty/thumbnail.jpg150150Way to GrowWay to Growhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/09f1d2145e67b2693c587ac4095c60a0?s=96&d=blank&r=g
In this time of being giving we like to extend our gratitude to the many organizations whose donations of in-kind goods and services create that special, warm feeling in the hearts of our families.
Below is just a small sampling of the great people who go the extra mile to support our work.
Allina Health Care
Allina’s Adopt a Family Program has been supporting Way to Grow for over a decade. It is a voluntary, employee-led program, in which different departments at Allina facilities “adopt” families during the holiday season.
Over fifty Way to Grow families provide the departments with a wish list of needed items for the coming year and the employees then use their own money to purchase the goods. Collecting everything from coats and diapers, to bikes and cookware, the departments go out of their way to try to get everything on the list. And, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, they do!
“It’s truly enjoyable to know that in this season of giving, we’re providing a warm feeling in the hearts of so many families” Candice Washington, Allina’s Adopt a Family Coordinator said.
We thank everyone at Allina Health Care and Candice Washington for their generosity in helping out so many of our families in this time of need.
Bundles of Love
One woman’s labor of love has grown into the nonprofit organization, Bundles of Love. This volunteer-led group sews and knits blankets, hats, and mittens, primarily for newborns, and delivers them to organizations for distribution to those in need.
Once a month, Way to Grow’s “bundles of love” arrive with over fifteen bags of clothing, all sewn by hand with incredible detail. This quality clothing is a huge help for our families, especially as those chilly, winter winds begin to blow.
Way to Grow thanks Bundles of Love for their continued support of our organization.
St. Gerard’s
St. Gerard’s Angel Tree program literally makes wishes come true. Each year during the holiday season, Way to Grow families provide three wishes to share with St. Gerard’s, a local Catholic Church, who then puts the wishes as little angels on a tree.
Church patrons choose an angel and volunteer to fulfill the wishes of the families, purchasing gifts such as cookware, bikes, tool sets, and more basic items such as clothes and housewares. The families are overwhelmed year after year, as everything on their wish list comes true, fully wrapped, and in time for the holidays.
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to St. Gerard’s for making the holidays extra special for our families.
*These great organizations and all our donors continue to have a tremendous impact on Way to Grow families.
In 2012, we’ve served over 2,000 children and families and are on track to complete over 10,000 home visits by the end of the year. We could not perform this great work without your support.
Stay informed. Stay connected.https://waytogrow.org/wp-content/themes/movedo/images/empty/thumbnail.jpg150150Way to GrowWay to Growhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/09f1d2145e67b2693c587ac4095c60a0?s=96&d=blank&r=g
Things are always exciting around the Way to Grow offices. And now you have a chance to follow them all. Check out our calendar of events. Sign up with our e-newsletter. Or be a Way to Grow volunteer. Just email us to learn more about our available opportunities.
Congratulations to our Kindergarten Class of 2012!
On Saturday, August 25th over 120 Way to Grow youngsters assembled at South High School for a Kindergarten Graduation. Now complete with the early learning portion of their education, many of graduating children will stay on with Way to Grow’s Great by Eight program, which continues to offer home visits and curriculum-based educational support outside of the classroom.
Check out a video synopsis of graduation day by clicking below and join us in congratulating Way to Grow’s Kindergarten Class of 2012
On Saturday, August 25th over 120 Way to Grow youngsters assembled at South High School for a Kindergarten Graduation. Now complete with the early learning portion of their education, many of graduating children will stay on with Way to Grow’s Great by Eight program, which continues to offer home visits and curriculum-based educational support outside of the classroom.
Check out the video synopsis of graduation day by clicking above and join us in congratulating Way to Grow’s Kindergarten Class of 2012!
Thanks to Target
We were just selected to receive a portion of the $50 million the company is giving to schools, nonprofits & educators this fall. Their generous $200,000 donation will help us continue supporting Minneapolis children to succeed in school. Learn about Target’s commitment to education and reading: Target.com/hereforgood
Thank you to everyone who joined Way to Grow for our Shine Celebration Gala on June 11.
Way to Grow supporters gather to celebrate the successes of Way to Grow in the last year, and to learn about what the future holds for our great organization. Thank you to all sponsors, table sponsors, auction item donors, volunteers, staff, and The Depot for making our event not only a great success, but wonderful evening for all.
Way to Grow, in collaboration with the Minneapolis Public Schools, is proud to announce the “Great by 8” initiative, which will expand our services to include public school students from kindergarten to the third-grade, or age 8. The “Great by 8” initiative will take our proven pre-K programming and carry it forward with the leadership of the Minneapolis Public Schools.
Way to Grow makes healthy cooking accessible to families through Cooking Matters.
Way to Grow is collaborating with the University of Minnesota’s Extension Services to bring our families access to Cooking Matters and its specialized nutrition course, Eating Right. The course teaches hands-on meal preparation, practical nutrition information and budgeting skills. Since all WTG Families involved in the program have preschool-aged children, the course has an added emphasis on teaching parents how to ensure that their children get the healthy food they need to grow and thrive. Currently, fifteen families are attending the six-week course, which covers a variety of cooking and food budgeting topics. Each two-hour session allows participants to watch a nutrition educator prepare a healthy meal and the opportunity to cook the same meal themselves. At the end of the session, each family brings home a free bag of groceries so they can prepare the meal at home. What a great way to make eating healthy meaningful, fun, and accessible to all!
Funding, in part, for Cooking Matters was made possible through a grant from the Mount Sinai Community Foundation, a designated endowment of the Minneapolis Jewish Foundation.
Your support made 2012 a banner year for Way to Grow as we were able to extend our in-home education services to more families and prepare more kids to be ready for school. Check out some of our great achievements below.
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Way to Grow is collaborating with the University of Minnesota’s Extension Services to bring our families access to