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Kids Can Community Center
4860 Q Street, Omaha, NE 68117
www.kidscan.org
@KidsCanOmaha
Robert Patterson
CEO
rpatterson@kidscan.org
+1 (402) 731-6988
No
Our organizational chart is attached at the end of the application and shows Kids Can staff roles and responsibilities.
Kids Can is on track to complete construction of our new community center at 4768 Q Street by December 2022. The new 27,000 SF building will double our space and include two (2) infant rooms for ages 6-weeks to 18-months, four (4) toddler/preschool classrooms for ages 18-months to 5-years old, three (3) classrooms for elementary students age 5 to 13-years old; plus a gymnasium with full court and spectator space, cafeteria, outdoors play-spaces, expanded offices, workrooms, meeting areas, and community room for neighborhood meetings and training sessions. All our programs will double in capacity and we will be hiring 25 full-time equivalent employees to accommodate this increase. With the new center and other program expansions, we will be able to benefit more than 1,400 students a year. Kids Can, formerly known as Social Settlement Association, has been an organizational mainstay of the South Omaha community for 115 years. We look forward to continuing to be a support for our families for many generations to come.
Interest in a partnership in Early Childhood Education (not full proposal)
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Capital project Combination of capital project and service/program Service/program
This is not a full proposal, but after attending all the listening sessions, we took to heart the notion of submitting something, even if this is just an idea or interest in a partnership. Kids Can Community Center would like to express interest in joining any other proposals or organizations focusing on Early Childhood Education. At Kids Can, we believe every child should have an equitable opportunity for a successful start in life and education, no matter the color of their skin, their parent’s paycheck, or the zip code they live in. We want to be part of that investment in our kids, but also know we can’t do it alone. We are aspiring to grow our partnerships with those who share that vision, providing childcare and early childhood education for families and employees in South and North Omaha. The other important piece inherent in this vision, is that childcare is a necessary and critical piece of a thriving workforce. If the pandemic taught us anything in the past two years, it is the importance of dependable childcare so our parents can maintain employment.
Any timeline would be in conjunction with a more developed proposal for any Early Childhood Education program or partnership.
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Fundamental Change (i.e., a proposal that will continue to elevate North or South Omaha's presence and perception within the region, significantly improving the lives of area residents through physical development) Long-Lasting Economic Growth (i.e., a proposal that will foster gainful employment opportunities and financial investment in the area, leading to the creation of generational wealth and widespread economic vitality in North and South Omaha) Transformational (i.e., a proposal that will help energize, recharge, or spur significant and favorable advancements in North or South Omaha's function or appearance)
Quality of Life (i.e., create or enhance natural spaces, mixed uses, parks, safety, etc.) Sustainable Community (i.e., create or enhance housing, services, education, civic uses, recreation, etc.)
When we talk about infrastructure, it’s not just our streets, bridges, and sidewalks. It’s our kids. It sounds cliché to say that kids are our future, it isn’t just a metaphor, it is a literal fact. Our children today are the citizens of tomorrow. Investing in our children, especially the littlest ones, is the best return on investment we can make. Data supports the impact of quality Early Childhood Education in a community: in circumstances where children are extremely vulnerable, such as lower-income families or where English is a second language, the return on investment is as high as 13-to-1 for high-quality early care and education (Buffett Early Childhood Institute, 2020). 13-to-1 is an amazing return on investment: for every dollar spent now on Early Childhood Education, we as a community would save 13 dollars in the future!
Many parents also fall into a “gap of earning” where they make too much for subsidies and not enough to pay for childcare themselves. There is always a constant need for accessible, affordable, and quality Early Childhood Education in the community. Accessibility: According to the Buffett Early Childhood Institute (2022), 70% of mothers with infants and toddlers work outside the home without enough available childcare slots to meet the current demand. At Kids Can, we have a continual waiting list for our parents seeking a class opening. Not having access to affordable childcare, infant care in particular, is a significant barrier for low-income families. Affordability: According to the Department of Health and Human Services, a family should be spending no more than 10% of their household income on childcare. The annual cost of childcare is around $12,000 per child (Voices For Children, Kids Count Report 2019) - far outpacing the 10% recommendations for most low-income families. Quality: Early Childhood Education if often out of reach for some of the most vulnerable children in our community living at or below the poverty line. Yet it is quality early education that not only prepares kids for Kindergarten and gives them a successful start in life, it also allows their parents to enter the workforce and earn living wages.
Accessible, affordable, and quality Early Childhood Education is transformational for low-income families and their children. It’s the infrastructure of education and our community, it increases quality of life, and is an economic factor through providing jobs to employees at a center and providing childcare so parents can enter the workforce and be employed elsewhere.
Childcare is economically essential, allowing working parents to stabilize our workforce while financially providing for their family. Early childhood education not only levels the playing field for individual students through education, but every child is a part of a family, and every family is a part of our community. Our community is more diverse and thrives when families can educate their children and parents can be employed in our community.
Sustainable change will occur and improve the quality of life in circumstances where children are extremely vulnerable, such as lower-income families or where English is a second language, with the return on investment as high as 13 to 1 for high-quality early care and education (Buffett Early Childhood Institute, 2020). If every family had access to early education, with such a substantial return on investment, students, communities, and our society would absolutely transform.
We would want to incorporate the Kids Can nonprofit model of providing services to low-income families first. What makes this unique and innovative is that cost in never a factor in whether a family can bring their kids to our programming. Many for-profit child care centers limit the number of kids whose child care is subsidized by the state because of the administrative and revenue challenges associated with accepting kids on subsidies. That leaves low-income families in a bind. The Kids Can model does not limit those families with subsidies and further supports them with scholarships when even subsides aren’t enough. Furthermore, when pursuing a quality program, by receiving a level 5 in the Step Up To Quality program as Kids Can has, you can receive and additional 15% in childcare reimbursement from the state.
For Early Childhood Education, we measure the following outcomes: 1. Children will be academically on track to be Kindergarten Ready. 2. Children will be socially and emotionally on track to be Kindergarten Ready. 3. Children will be physically on track to be Kindergarten Ready.
Early Childhood outcomes are measured through Teaching Strategies Gold, directly linked to the Creative Curriculum.
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We would like to know if anyone else is interested in an Early Childhood Education project so that we may partner with them.
No physical location has been determined, but we would be interested if another organization has a space in a potential partnership.
Within one or more QCTs
No grant funds determined as of yet, this is just an initial idea.
If a potential partner was determined through this process, Kids Can has a long history of fiscally sound operations in the Early Childhood Education space.
If a partnership was formed, Kids Can would explore all possible funding sources to fulfill a future proposal including foundations, corporations, and individuals. Kids Can has a successful fundraising history, most recently raising over $11M for the new community center.
ERPA funds would be used to leverage fundraising for individuals, corporations, and foundations to reach the full amount needed for the project.
Yes, this program has the potential to be scaled down depending on partnering organizations.
This would be dependent on any potential community partners.
We are not requesting a specific amount of funding at this time but would be interested if any other organizations have submitted proposals for Early Childhood Education and is seeking a partnership.
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Organizational Chart