March Newsletter

In Appalachia, we have the good fortune of partnering with several groups that do amazing work for families in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the country The Kids Central programs in particular offer Head Start services to low-income families in the area. Martine Courvoisier, a member of our team in Appalachia, volunteers at two of their centers several days a week.This kind of arrangement is something we often do, hoping to support partners who are doing great work but are short on resources, hoping to learn from them for future ATD Fourth World projects. “The staff at Kids Central are wonderful,” Martine says. “They have been doing this for years and years yet they still show a lot of caring about the children, and respect to the families. I admire these people, all of them: staff, parents, and grandparents who take care of these young children and of their own families. Everyone really wants these kids to succeed.”Nearly all the staff are women who know first-hand what it means to have to struggle to keep a family together. Many of their family members suffer from incapacitating mining-related illnesses. Others have known insecure employment or unemployment . Some of them have had to face and support relatives touched by drugs or jail. Martine adds, “From what I started to understand from various groups and people I met in Kentucky, Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, long-term unemployment and no job opportunities are the root of much of the suffering that families have to endure.”Like ATD Fourth World, Kids Central supports struggling families to give their children an early chance. For five days a week, once at the site children aging from 3 to 5 years old receive breakfast, lunch, and snacks – but more importantly, they get a chance to explore, learn and play in a supportive environment. “The kids love playing at blocks, computer, painting and housekeeping, and of course, weather permitting, on the playground,” Martine says. “At the centers, they have all kinds of materials to help the children discover and develop skills; furthermore they learn how to socialize and interacts with other children but also with different adults; all this is most valuable and it broadens their horizon too.”These programs make a real difference in the children’s lives. Martine told us recently of one child who had become much more open and at ease with others since coming to the center. Other children, who are often moving between foster families and waiting for adoptions, can find a place of calm there during otherwise chaotic times.Kids Central has had its budget affected by the government sequester, and for the past year they have had to do with even less than usual. Even budget cuts can’t affect the hope for a better future that they offer though. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have partners like those from Kids Central in Appalachia.