PROVIDENCE – Meeting Street is soon launching a new early childhood family resource center and the education nonprofit has secured significant federal funding to help make the center a reality.
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., announced Friday along with Meeting Street officials that the organization has secured a $1 million federal earmark to support the new resource center. The new center, Reed’s office said, will be part of Meeting Street’s Center for Early Childhood Development opening on the city’s main campus this summer.
The center will create a community-based, single-sourced resource program for vulnerable families with children ages prenatal to 5, Reed’s office said. The federal funds will be utilized by Meeting Street to hire trained family resource coordinators available to all families and provide child developmental screenings, as well as provide needs and wellness assessments.
Reed said in a statement Friday that he feels Meeting Street’s new resource center will be “a game changer” and a model for other states. “I am proud to help direct federal investments like this to ensure every kid has the support they need and every family has an experienced, effective resource advocate in their corner,” Reed said.
John M. Kelly, Meeting Street’s president, said in a statement that Reed’s belief in the organization’s work and vision for the resource center’s potential “is truly an honor.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.