The Partnership for Children of Lenoir and Greene Counties Has a Mission To Help Kids
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Helping young children become prepared for kindergarten is just one of the many ways the Partnership for Children of Lenoir and Greene Counties helps kids.
The nonprofit organization is one of 80 programs in North Carolina that receives money from the state’s Smart Start initiative. That money goes toward helping children ages newborn through 5 years and their families.
“Our organization helps children get ready for school and helps parents obtain the best parenting skills and educational skills to help with the upbringing of their children,” says Jessica Wilson, outreach coordinator with the Partnership for Children of Lenoir and Greene Counties. “We also offer specialized training for childcare providers and assist child-care facilities in several other ways so they will meet the highest quality standards.”
Wilson says the Partnership for Children programs are targeted toward low-income and disadvantaged families in the community, although not always.
“One of our more popular initiatives is a More at Four preschool program earmarked toward 4-year-old children who are at risk for school failure, so we prepare them for kindergarten,” she says. “Many children in the program are from low-income families, but we also help kids who have learning disabilities, as well as children who have never been in a child-care environment. It gets kids to become more comfortable in a social setting prior to kindergarten.”
Other programs offered at Partnership include a Parents as Teachers course, as well as a Family Literacy curriculum.
Besides her job, Wilson is involved with other aspects of community life, including serving as an ambassador for the Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce.
“An ambassador is a chamber member volunteer who appears at ribbon-cutting ceremonies, plus visits other chamber members to make sure they are pleased with what the chamber is accomplishing,” she says. “And I was also an actor in a 2008 holiday season Ghost Walk of Kinston production that was a fundraising project. I truly enjoy being involved in my community.”
Story by Kevin Litwin
