|
Reach Dane is proud to be a part of the Northside Early Childhood Zone (NECZ) where young children have access to grow to their highest potential starting at birth. This initiative will ensure that families have stable employment and community status which strengthens a child's home life. Children are therefore ready to thrive in kindergarten. Reaching this vision will make closing the achievement gap a reality.
Zone History
In 2013, Dane County Department of Human Services and United Way of Dane County launched the first Early Childhood Zone in the Leopold School enrollment area. In 2014, two new ECZs were added, one in Sun Prairie and another in Verona Sugar Creek area. The Northside Early Childhood Zone opened in January, 2017. The Northside Early Childhood Zone is a public/private partnership among the City of Madison, United Way, and the Oscar Rennebolm Foundation. It exists in the school districts of Gompers, Lake View, Lindbergh, and Mendota Elementary Schools. The Northside Early Childhood Zone will follow the same vision established for prior Zones and provide these core components:
- Home visitation services for families with children birth to age four
- Housing case management
- Employment and training support
In addition, the NECZ will be an enhanced zone and will extend home visiting program opportunities for eligible women who are pregnant or fathers who are primary caregivers of newborns and who are living in the NECZ geographic zone. The enhancements will also address the need for providing adequate childcare opportunities and support for mental health needs. Positions in this Zone include: Zone coordinator, Neighborhood Early Childhood Navigators and a Program Evaluator to ensure long term learning and change to better our community.
Strong Neighborhood
The Northside Early Childhood Zone will be co-located in a convenient space and will establish partnerships within this vibrant neighborhood by:
- Engaging with the already strong neighborhood centers to attract young parents to program possibilities
- Growing leadership already present in neighborhood members
- Increasing childcare opportunities as both a service to children and an employment opportunity to neighborhood members
- Establishing relationships with neighborhood businesses and organizations
- Working closely with MMSD and the Community School
- Partnering with health care services
| 
