Pam Feinberg has been with Tri-Con Child Care for 19 years and she is still excited to go to work every day. Tri-Con has been aiding underserved children ages 3-7 with learning to learn, meals, and being looked after for 50 years! A scholarship at Tri-Con helps with the weekly cost to $40 (the actual cost of their services is $200/week). This means they must raise $158,000 to make this happen. Tri-Con receives part of its funding from the state, but with donations from organizations like ours, they are able to provide scholarships to many of their students. Among things provided for them is a breakfast, hot lunch prepared by a state qualified kitchen and afternoon snacks. They have 7 teachers, 2 of which are bilingual. they do have a few volunteers who are bilingual as well. The time children spend at Tri-Con they are exposed to language and literacy, conflict resolution and math concepts like patterns. Without these exposures, these children will fall far behind by third grade. As Rich Rosen told us about illiteracy among the underserved, the chances of a student dropping out increases dramatically if the cannot read at a third grade level in third grade. To also make the parents feel a part of the program, the center held (pre-pandemic) pot luck dinners. Many parents don't socialize since they are tired when they get home from work. They hope to start those up again soon. The center also adheres to the CDC guidances. by wearing masks around the children who also wear masks. The center has many success stories- one of which works at the First Bank of Highland Park. Many of the grown children come back to give back, which of course is a great testament to what Tri-Con is doing! |