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Thrive in 5: Innovative Grants Aid Five Boston Neighborhoods

When families are engaged in their children’s learning and development, children succeed personally and academically. To aid this process, Eos grantee Thrive in 5 recently announced $450,000 in grants to five organizations serving Boston neighborhoods.

The “Boston Children Thrive in 5” grants, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will go to Allston-Brighton (led by the Family Nurturing Center, Roxbury/North Dorchester (led by the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative), South End/Lower Roxbury (led by the United South End Settlements), East Boston (led by the East Boston Community Partnerships for Children Neighborhood Cluster), and Fields Corner (led by the Dorchester House Multi-Service Center).

The human brain develops more rapidly from birth through age three than at any other time of life—and what takes place in the first few years of a child’s life greatly influences how ready he or she is for success in school. That’s why the grants seek to help neighborhoods engage families in their children’s learning and development by increasing their access to early childhood resources.

The “Boston Children Thrive in 5” grants build on the relationships and routines families have in their neighborhood by equipping trusted local sources – from the supermarket to the health center, the bodega to the church, the hair salon to the bank – with early childhood resources. The result is that families have multiple connections to knowledge and opportunities that support their child’s learning and healthy development within their typical day, in their physical neighborhood, through sources with whom they already have a relationship. In these neighborhoods, service providers work together closely so that there is “no wrong door” for families when it comes to finding services and there is a complete menu of resources to support and complement parents in their role as their child’s first teacher.

Thrive in 5 provides a citywide vision and 10 year plan to ensure every Boston child enters kindergarten ready to succeed in school and in life. “Boston Children Thrive in 5”—which helps spread best practices more deeply into neighborhoods and provides community members with myriad ways to get involved—will be a key ingredient in making that vision a reality.

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