Thankfully, these children benefited from enrollment in Family Services’ Head Start and Early Head Start child development programs—and from services that helped their parents set goals and work toward self-sufficiency.

With a solid developmental foundation and a more secure family life, Alyssa, David, Ellie and other disadvantaged Forsyth County children are now ready to succeed in school—and in life.

And that’s not all,

• Four-year-olds from our child development programs are entering kindergarten every fall, prepared to learn and eager to succeed.
• Our three-year-olds are developing the social and emotional skills that will help them overcome the effects of traumatic experiences, so they can begin to thrive.
• Hardworking single moms, living in poverty, are benefitting from resources to help their young children and gain the confidence to become the parents they long to be.

These achievements are the direct result of our community coming together as never before and working with Family Services to close the “opportunity gap” in Forsyth County.

IT’S WORKING.

But there is still work to be done. There are 24,000 children under age 5 in Forsyth County. One-third of them remain threatened by the constant stress and pressures of living in poverty. In fact, because of limited funding and capacity only 1,200 out of 2,600 four-year-olds who are eligible for publicly funded quality Pre-K programs are enrolled.

Science has proven that if left unaddressed in young children, these conditions will lead to emotional, social, behavioral, health and learning problems which can follow them into adulthood.

Too many local children are on waiting lists for our services.

Our community must work together to elevate more vulnerable children and their families to reach their full potential.

Why? Because studies show that the first five years of life are a time of rapid brain development—a critical, once-only window of opportunity for developing reasoning, self-control and other skills that are essential for success in life.

Once that window has closed, hopes and dreams are infinitely harder to realize.

And that’s why Family Services continues to build an unprecedented network of local organizations and action-minded leaders who share our commitment to community-wide change. These partnerships are generating innovative ways to help every child and family in Forsyth County reach their full potential.

Community change is dependent upon community engagement. We need the help of more life-changing champions to expand the results we are seeing, by

• Supporting programs that raise the social and emotional well-being of young children and their families.
• Creating a pathway to school readiness for every child in Forsyth County.
• Ensuring that children and families are free from the threat of family violence.

When our community comes together, great things happen.

The evidence is easy to see in the faces of our children. There has never been a better time to expand the solutions that are working.

We invite you to join the community of solutions today.

For more information about Family Services, or how you can donate or volunteer, please visit www.familyservicesforsyth.org, or call 336.722.8173.