Partnership funded services help provide continuum of care for Durham mom, children

   Today April and her two daughters, Khadijah, age 5, and Makenzie, 18 months, are thriving thanks to the coordination of four Durham’s Partnership for Children funded programs that worked to make sure her children are healthy and prepared for school.
April just earned her GED, and she is planning to enroll in cosmetology school in the fall. Parents like April can’t begin to support school readiness if their basic needs are not met.
 
   Four years ago, April was stressed trying to pay for a crib, diapers and transportation costs. She first was connected to Healthy Families Durham when Khadijah was an infant. This family support program, funded by the Partnership, helped her with parenting classes, but saw April needed stipends for transportation and baby equipment.
 
   They also wanted to make sure April had the resources to help Khadijah get evaluated for early intervention services. Because Khadijah was showing signs of a significant speech delay, April was referred to The ARC of Durham County’s Early Childhood Support Program, another Partnership funded program.

   “The ARC staff are wonderful,” April says. “They helped me get the evaluations Khadijah needed. When I didn’t have bus money for doctor’s appointments, equipment, books for school, they were there.”
   
   April said the ARC of Durham County didn’t look down on her in her time of need, instead they provided her services with dignity. 

   Last spring, an ARC Family Support Counselor helped April apply for Durham Public Schools Title I Pre-K program that provides quality child care for children with developmental delays. The ARC also helped support her search for child care for her younger daughter by referring her to Durham’s Alliance for Child Care Access (DACCA), another funded program of the Partnership that helped provide financial assistance with child care costs.

   DACCA referred her to Choosing and Using, a program delivered by Child Care Services Association that linked her with a child care facility for her 18-month-old Mackenzie.
  
    “I’m so thankful for the support to get my daughter into day care and to help me focus on earning my GED,” she said.

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