Roxbury, MA September 17, 2019 – Nurtury, New England's first early education and care agency for Greater Boston's youngest children in need from birth to age five announced today that it has received a $10,000 Grant for Good from Eastern Bank, America’s oldest and largest mutual bank. The grant is part of a $1 million commitment Eastern has made to local nonprofit organizations strengthening options for children and families across Eastern’s New England footprint. The grant provided by Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation will support Nurtury’s Family Engagement Program by establishing kiosks at six Nurtury early learning centers in Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and Cambridge. The kiosks will include tablets loaded with specialized tracking software for families to input data. Data gathered through the Kiosks will support Family Engagement staff efforts to provide referrals for services, identify and address barriers to accessing services, strengthen communication, and monitor family progress.
“Nurtury recognizes parents and caregivers as first teacher, breadwinner, and advocate. This grant allows us to create private spaces for families to complete the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) and make requests for resource referrals. The ASQ is a wonderful tool to help parents and caregivers answer questions teachers might have about how their child is learning and growing. The more we know about a child’s growth and development, the better we can support learning in the classroom and their future success!” said Mary Kay Leonard, Nurtury’s Interim CEO.
Persistent gaps in the quality of and access to early childhood development programs, as well as in parent engagement, are known to cause disparities in opportunities to succeed throughout life. Without engaging, safe, and stable environments during the first three years of life, children are likely to enter school already behind. Students who cannot read at grade level by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school before high school graduation. And lacking a high school diploma significantly impacts future employment and earnings opportunities. Eastern is awarding grants to organizations focused on strengthening socioemotional and cognitive skills development among children in the communities it serves. Grants are intended to ensure children and their families have more equitable access to the resources needed early in life for healthy development, while funding a sector that receives a staggeringly small proportion of all philanthropy.
“Providing every child with an equal opportunity for a bright future is a basic right,” said Bob Rivers, Chair and CEO of Eastern Bank. “By supporting organizations that assist parents and caregivers and prepare children to be ready to learn and succeed, we are helping to create the foundation children need to thrive. On behalf of everyone at Eastern, we congratulate the grant recipients and thank them for their dedication to the children in our communities.”
As part of Eastern’s $1 million commitment to support enriching early childhood development, Nurtury is among 50 organizations that provide leading early childhood development programs across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island and are each receiving a $10,000 Grant for Good. These grants are focused on providing support in four critical areas: achieving early learning quality standards, strengthening parent engagement, supporting professional development for educators, and upgrading early learning facilities and supplies.
About Eastern Bank
Founded in 1818, Boston-based Eastern Bank is America’s oldest and largest mutual bank, with over $11 billion in assets and more than 115 locations serving communities in eastern Massachusetts, southern and coastal New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Eastern provides exceptional access to fairly priced banking, investment and insurance products and services for consumers and businesses of all sizes. Eastern Bank, which includes Eastern Wealth Management and Eastern Insurance, is known for its outspoken advocacy and community support that has exceeded more than $140 million in charitable giving since 1999. An inclusive company, Eastern employs 1,900+ deeply committed professionals who value relationships with their customers, colleagues, and communities. Join us for good at www.easternbank.com and follow Eastern on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
About Nurtury
Nurtury gives Greater Boston's youngest children in need, from birth to age five, the opportunity to reach their full potential by investing in school readiness, promoting healthy development and strengthening families. For over a century, Nurtury has been one of Boston's largest providers of early education and care, currently impacting over 1,200 children in the Greater Boston area. Learn more by visiting: www.nurturyboston.org.
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