Gateway Childrens Charity

Familyforward was awarded $120,000 to double the size of their therapeutic preschool, which serves students who have experienced early adversity. The program incorporates play and family therapy as well as access to occupational and speech therapy along with a cognitively-focused early learning curriculum. It is free to st. louis county residents and children who qualify for medicaid. The Gateway children'Childrens's Charity grant will fund the construction of their new therapeutic preschool facility, housed within their developmental trauma center campus on north lindbergh, which opens this fall. Familyforward was created in 2017 with the merger of two long-standing nonprofits: children'Childrens's home society of Missouri and family resource center.

North side community school, a charter public school serving students on the north side of st. louis in pre-k through eighth grade, received $30,000 capital improvements for their pre-k program. North side has previously received funding from gcc for the launch and expansion of its pre-k program and the repairs to the playground for their early childhood center. Gcc's 2022 funding will replace aging floors, skylights, bathrooms, and make other enhancements to promote a safe and healthy learning environment.

Ready readers received $30,000 to expand the reach of their literacy programs. The grant will fund the purchase of some 2,000 books so that more than 280 additional children can build a love of reading and access the rewards of literacy this school year. Ready readers sends trained volunteers into classrooms in low-income communities to read aloud to young children and distribute books, sparking imaginations and building early literacy skills in preparation for kindergarten.

City garden montessori school, a charter public school in the botanical heights neighborhood serving students in pre-k through eighth grade, has been awarded $20,000 to create a special education pre-k classroom. Gcc funding will finance renovating space currently used for administrative purposes and purchasing furniture and instructional materials. Last year, city garden tripled the number of pre-k classrooms in their new elementary school building and gcc funded the creation of an age-appropriate pre-k playground.

Refuge & restoration is a first time gcc grant recipient. The new organization was awarded $20,000 for the start up costs of its early childhood education center, which will be one of the anchor services housed in the new refuge & restoration marketplace, a revitalized 88,000 square foot shopping center. Serving delwood and ferguson and surrounding communities in north county, the r&r marketplace will also provide a workforce training center, innovation center, bank, and health services. The early childhood education center will serve 100 children and is scheduled to open in the 2022-2023 school year. Gcc has pledged an additional $20,000 once students are enrolled; this payment was completed in 2022.