The Partnership Spotlight
2009 Barnes & Noble Holiday Book Drive
Books for young children were distributed to Partnership funded programs and 12 other community agencies, including the John Avery Boys and Girls Club (above).
Durham’s Partnership for Children was proud to partner with Barnes & Noble - Streets at Southpoint for a fourth year to help young children and promote early literacy with the 2009 Holiday Book Drive. The Partnership thanks Barnes & Noble staff for working to promote the book drive to customers, asking them to purchase new books for young children. The Book Drive brought in 4,150 books for Durham County children.
Ignite Learning Museum Membership Program
Many thanks to the Museum of Life and Science for offering 60 family memberships to low-income families in Durham County. Applications from families came in with the support of Healthy Families Durham, Primary Colors Learning Center, Bryson’s Christian Montessori Pre-School, and El Centro Hispano. The low-cost memberships will help families support their young children’s development.
Partnership participates in Smart Investing Initiative  Pictured from left to right:
Back row: Nathaniel Goetz, United Way of the Greater Triangle; Joe Bowser,Durham County Commissioner; Drew Cummings, Durham County Assistant Manager; Kevin Dick, Executive Director City of Durham/ Durham Workforce Development Board; Monica Chen, The Herald-Sun; Karine Stallings, Durham’s Partnership for Children; John White, Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce; Ilene Britt, Durham Technical Community College
Second row: Kirstin Kainz, Durham Public Schools Board of Education; Brenda Howerton, Durham County Commissioner
Seated: Marsha Basloe, Durham’s Partnership for Children; Pilar Rocha-Goldberg, El Centro Hispano; Starla Huggins, North Carolina Central University; Anne Taylor, FPG Child Development Institute/NECTAC Technical Assistance; Melissa Norton, Downtown Durham Inc.
On Dec. 1 the Durham community participated in a public engagement forum at the Down East Partnership for Children in Rocky Mount with key Durham leaders to obtain input on investments and issues affecting our state’s youngest children.
The Regional Forum was part of a new statewide public engagement initiative entitled Smart Investing: Communities Thrive When Children Thrive to establish what North Carolina communities want for their youngest children and the future of the state.
Funded by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and with participation from Lt. Governor Walter Dalton and Smart Start, Smart Investing is bringing together a diverse mix of residents to begin anew dialogue about early education and children’s health in North Carolina. Smart Start’s 77 partnerships—which includes Durham’s Partnership for Children—are leveraging their networks to assemble local parents, business leaders, health care providers, education professionals and policymakers representing every county in the state.
In Durham County, leaders from the business community, higher education, city and county government, Durham Public Schools and the community participated in the Smart Investing Regional Forum on Dec. 1. In March, Durham will host a Regional Summit as part of this effort to determine children’s needs in every region and the state as a whole.
“I know times are tough, but it’s critical that we invest in our children because they are the future of this state,” said Lt. Governor Walter Dalton. “This initiative represents a wonderful opportunity to get North Carolina citizens more engaged and involved in issues affecting young children and to strengthen our communities at the same time.”
Steps to School  Durham’s Partnership collaborated with Durham Public Schools to publish a joint publication, Steps to School. The bilingual newsletter is aimed at helping parents prepare their preschoolers for kindergarten. Each issue will focus on a different part of early learning and include information, activities, events and resources. The Newsletter is one piece of a larger Transition to Kindergarten Initiative with DPS and the Partnership to coordinate efforts and capture county data on school readiness. Click here for the Spanish publication.
 Dine Out for Young Children
Thank you to Chili’s Bar & Grill on Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd for supporting Dine Out for Young Children Day the second Tuesday of each month from September to January. Ten percent of all supporter sales were contributed to the Partnership. We also thank community members who dined out to support young children.
Child Care Workforce Study Recently the Partnership released a first exclusive local report on the Durham County child care workforce which compares compensation, employment benefits, professional development and turnover.
The 2009 Child Care Workforce Study, Working in Child Care in Durham County highlights improvements in the child care workforce and also identifies areas that the Partnership and its collaborating partners can continue to focus on, such as examining strategies to support retention among child care teachers.
Among other key findings, the survey found that the number of degreed early childhood educators has risen along with earnings. More than half (51 percent) of child care teachers in Durham have at least an Associate Degree in any field and earn on average $11.08 per hour. While there has been progress made, the survey also indicates that many child care professionals still struggle to make ends meet with 32 percent of teachers and 48 percent of family child care providers reporting no health insurance coverage and 40 percent of teachers reporting they had received some type of public assistance in the last three years.
The Partnership contracted with Child Care Services Association to conduct the study. The Partnership thanks The Durham Results-Based Accountability Initiative, The City of Durham Workforce Development Board and Time Warner Cable for their generous support in funding for the report.
Partnership Board Appoints New Chair, Members  New Board Chair is pictured with Representative Paul Luebke after the Partnership's 2009 Annual Meeting in Oct.
The Partnership is glad to welcome Angie Welsh as new Board Chair. Welsh’s Smart Start and United Way of the Greater Triangle background will help the Partnership continue to touch the lives of Durham families with children age birth to 5.
In addition to Welsh, the Board appointed the following officers and members:
- Vice Chair: Bill Bryant, President of Bryant Investment Management Group, LLC.
- Secretary: Ilene Britt, Program Director of the Early Childhood Associate Program and Instructor at Durham Technical Community College.
- Treasurer: Dave Clark, Senior Business Banker, Vice President of Wachovia/Wells Fargo.
- Suzette Brown, third year Pediatric Resident at Duke Pediatrics.
- David Covington, Clinical Social Worker with Duke Children’s Primary Care.
- Drew Cummings, Assistant County Manager for Durham County.
- Laura Gorry, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Operations at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina in Durham.
- Sarah Kenney, Health Education Specialist for Duke University Medical Center.
- Geraldine “Gerri” Robinson, Director of Durham County Social Services.
- Eunice Sanders, Assistant Superintendent of Exceptional Children’s Programs for Durham Public Schools.
- Timothy Sinclair, Head Start Director at Operation Breakthrough.
- Anne Taylor, National Technical Assistance Specialist at the National Early Childhood TA Center.
The Partnership thanks Michael Palmer of Duke University for his dedication serving as Board Chair for two years. Palmer continues to serve as a member of the Board of Directors.
New Faith Coordinator The Partnership and the End Poverty Durham network continue to collaborate in its efforts to engage the Durham Faith Community around issues of young children birth to age 5 and their families. The Partnership recently contracted with Winnie Morgan as the new project coordinator.
Winnie brings a great deal of expertise to this work with both a background in early childhood and youth development as well as experience working with various faith communities. In addition, Winnie is known as a professional speaker. She can be reached at winniewmorgan@juno.com. For more information on the Early Childhood Faith Initiative, visit www.dpfc.net and www.endpovertydurham.org.
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