Childrens Coalition of Aransas County

1. Finds (families in need of direct services). In order for a child to learn, grow and develop in a healthy way, basic physical needs must be met. We serve as a requesting agency for the careportal, a web-based system that connects needy families with churches who participate in the careportal program for the provision of physical needs such as food, clothing and shelter. We also partner with various local and regional organizations such as the salvation army, good samaritan and st. vincent de paul society to help families in need. We collaborate with good samaritan to deliver groceries to families who lack transportation. We have been selected by Aransas county as one of the two local nonprofit organizations to administer funds from the cares act for covid-19 relief. As of september 1, 2020 we have provided direct assistance to 362 children in 210 families. The total economic impact of these direct assistance programs on our community in the first eight months of the year has been 84,149.97.

3.community forum: it has been said that many hands make the work light. We believe that all the agencies and organizations that are working to help children and families need to communicate with each other and coordinate their efforts. One way we strive to facilitate this type of communication and coordination is by hosting a monthly community forum in which almost 200 individuals representing more than 60 agencies come together to share information, ideas, needs and resources. Partnerships and collaborations have grown out of the community forum. In early 2020 we entered into an early childhood advocacy project with the Aransas county independent school district and the community action council of south Texas head start. Our goal is to improve access to and awareness of the importance of high- quality early childhood education and care. This year is our first year to serve as an official safe place for runaway youth in distress. We also have begun a partnership this year with the purple door in which we provide a safe environment where victims of domestic violence can meet with purple door counselors and advocates.

2.child care and early education quality improvement: the quality, availability and affordability of childcare has a significant impact on a family's ability to work and bring in sufficient income to support themselves. The children'Childrens's Coalition of Aransas county provides training and technical assistance to childcare providers throughout the coastal bend area. These services are provided free or at a very low cost. Currently we are working on a family child care initiative in which we provide special training, technical assistance and physical and financial support for the development of registered or licensed family childcare programs that serve children from birth to age three years. It is currently estimated that there are 1300 children under the age of 3 years in our community, while there are only 59 childcare slots available for that age group. As of september 1, 2020 we are working with three prospective family childcare providers and one prospective childcare center owner so that the childcare crisis in our community can be relieved. In 2022, we opened our daycare center which now provides income based services to families in need, expanding services to the community.

4.special events: there's nothing that brings a community together better than a celebration. We work with a variety of community partners to host special events that are fun, entertaining and informative. Typical annual activities include an early childhood art exhibit at the Aransas county public library for the week of the young child, a cinco de mayo car seat safety event and a spring resource roundup.