Yes, the state budget affects RHSFS.

Many friends of Riverbend Head Start & Family Services have been wondering if our programs are affected by the proposed state budget. Because our Head Start program is federally funded, it is not affected by the state budget, but Head Start is only one of our three programs. The other two, Family Foundations and Transitions Counseling both face new challenges in regard to the budget.

We just gave fifteen Family Foundations case managers thirty-days notice that their program might not continue and the 200 high risk infants and toddlers they work with may lose our early intervention services. Family Foundations is funded by the Illinois State Board of Education's Early Childhood Education Block Grant with a goal to reduce factors such as abuse and neglect that cause academic failure. This program is voluntary. Parents choose to participate because they want to improve their families' lives.

We also just told our mental health therapists that the Department of Children and Family services cancelled our counseling contract for over fifty low-income children and adults. These are children and their foster parents, many of whom have been physically or sexually abused.

For more information about the state budget, visit www.il.gov.

Riverbend Head Start & Family Services is only one of countless agencies and programs that will be affected by the budget cuts. If you disagree with balancing the budget on the backs of underserved children and adults, please contact your legislators. Find out who they are at http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/SelectSearchType.aspx?NavLink=1.

Viva los Ryries! A Fiesta to Care About

View Pictures of the Event

Sombreros and festive music welcomed friends, family and local community members during the Riverbend Head Start & Family Services 2009 Circle of Care award dinner in honor of Ed and Nancy Ryrie May 21.

Their dedication to community service was celebrated during the event.The RHSFS award honors those who have exemplified the spirit of caring in the community through their profession, volunteerism or philanthropy.

The Ryries and the theme, Viva los Ryries! A Fiesta to Care About, which reflected the couples’ outgoing demeanor, brought 270 people to the event. Guests mingled with the honorees before and during the Mexican-style dinner.

The couple was roasted by loved ones who shared stories that unveiled inside jokes and even embarrassing moments. Ed’s sisters revealed some wardrobe choices they forced upon him at a young age while Nancy’s children mocked her fanny pack days.

Riverbend Head Start and Family Services is a non-profit on a mission to enable children and families to discover positive solutions to life’s challenges. Circle of Care, an event in its 16th year, is an annual benefit for the agency. The money raised is used for the agency's programs which teach children, strengthen families and enhance communities.

The Ryries thanked participants who planned the event and made it a success. They were thankful for the community’s involvement and extremely pleased with the outcome, which benefited Riverbend Head Start & Family Services, an agency the couple has devoted countless hours to, over many years.

My Daddy

Is there anything more powerful that a father-figure? Erica, Lord Tyriq, Brandon Jr. and Seth - the Head Start preschoolers in these pictures - don't think so. Their dads came to their preschool today for Men's Day.

Sherman and Erica carefully selected colors with which to draw. Lord Tyriq and Loren pored over a puzzle with a little help from Melissa Morgan, the Teacher Assistant. Brandon was intent on teaching Brandon Jr. how to use his scissors and cut precisely – and safely – along the lines; and Seth and Greg were thrilled to assemble a model race car. The dads pictured here are special people. They took time out for their kids and worked right along-side them to create something – in kid-sized chairs no less!

"Seth wants me to come to school everyday now," said Greg, “I wish I could.” The boys took great care not to get the blue paint everywhere. Fortunately, it was washable paint!

The teachers at the Essic Robinson Head Start center in Alton, Illinois try hard to recognize dads and other father figures who are actively involved in a child's life. They try even harder to make sure that men know what a crucial impact they can have on their child's development into a wonderful person.

Like many others, these dads see a better future through their children. They want what every parent wants, children who can make a positive difference in the world. They also know that education is the way to make that happen. That's why they came to Men's Day and showed their children that they value education. And that's why Erica, Lord Tyriq, Brandon Jr. and Seth were the luckiest kids in the world today.

Head Start is the nation's longest-running school readiness program for qualifying families and is enrolling for fall right now. It emphasizes parent involvement as much as early childhood education and health care in order to prepare little kids to succeed in kindergarten.

Call 618/463-5947 to see if your family qualifies for FREE preschool at Head Start.

Riverbend Head Start & Family Services is one of 2,500 Head Start programs in the country strengthening families and reducing the effects of factors that put children at-risk of starting Kindergarten behind their peers.

http://www.riverbendfamilies.org/headstart.shtm

Are you in there?

The good work of our staff, board, volunteers, community partners and, especially, our clients is in our latest issue of Riverbend Families, a community newsletter.

Are you in it?

If you aren't, someone you know probably is. Read it now.

To Market, To Market

Thank you Jim, Shirley, Rhonda and the rest of the team at Office Depot in Alton, Illinois! They donated hundreds of dollars worth of cool office and classroom supplies to us today. Pictured is Store Manager Jim Miller on the left, and John Norton, our Facilities Janitor.

We got the call and rushed right over to find a palette full of boxes of goodies. A little something for everyone in our agency, including the kiddos we serve in our programs that get them ready for big school.

These supplies will go a long way toward helping us achieve our mission to enable children and families to develop positive skills to meet life's challenges.

Thanks again, Mission Partner!

Shop Office Depot (shameless plug)

Father David Boase from the Episcopal Parish of Alton surprised Sandy Kelley, director of Family Foundations with a $300 check, board books and Baby Einstein videos for the young children and families her program strengthens.

Thank you so much parishioners!

Parishioner Gay Bryant (not pictured), said that the outreach efforts of the parish are geared toward helping small children and struggling families in the community by supporting programs that help them.

Family Foundations, a program of Riverbend Head Start & Family Services, provides parent education and case management to parents, and child development activities to children through regularly scheduled home visits.

Kelley said they'd use the cash for a holiday party they host for their families. It's a chance for families to be out in the world together and celebrate. Research has shown that family strengthening programs should foster social connections between families with young children. Many of our families are isolated due to a lack of transportation and low-income.

Parent group meetings at its Alton and Granite City centers round out the program's family strengthening services that are based on the Parents As Teachers model.

A Happy Father's Day...early

Recently fantastic fathers, like Rodrick (in the picture) and other positive male role models helped their preschoolers make apple pies from biscuits, filling and cinnamon.

While the pies baked, the families read a book together, and then played outside on the playground.

The event promoted father-child bonding, which is important for a child’s brain development and self-esteem. It also let the men know that they are valuable, too.

The families are enrolled in our Head Start Home-Based program. Rodrick and his son, Rodrick, Jr. are from Alton. Other families came from Bethalto, Cottage Hills, and Roxana.

Thanks for being there, Dads!

A book in the hand is worth two in the...actually, it's priceless.

Congress has put tax dollars where the National Endowment for the Arts’ mouth is. It recommended level funding for the federal literacy program Reading is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF) that provides free books to underserved children.

That means we got a grant! It will put 3,753 free books in the hands of 913 babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers in Madison County who may be at-risk of failing in school due to poverty, a disability or some other factor.

Last November the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) published a report on reading habits of youth that revealed “recent declines in voluntary reading and test scores alike, exposing trends that have severe consequences for American society,” according to its web site.

Yikes! We want to make sure that the little kids in our programs grow up reading and learn to love it. Grants from RIF and TheBANK of Edwardsville (who provided the required local match of $1,784) allow us to do that.

Family reading events for our kids and their parents will be planned throughout the year, some in partnership with the nearest public library. Designed to encourage parents to read to their kids at home, the events include a warm, nutritious meal served family–style, a guest reader, a craft centered on a children’s book, and culminate with each child choosing a free book to take home and keep courtesy of RIF.

Founded in 1966, RIF is the oldest and largest children and family nonprofit literacy organization in the United States. RIF’s highest priority is reaching underserved children from birth to age eight. Through community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, such as Macy’s department stores, RIF provides 4.5 million children with 16 million new, free books and literacy resources each year.

All RIF programs combine three essential elements to foster children's literacy: reading motivation, family and community involvement, and the excitement of choosing free books to keep.

This is the ninth year Riverbend Head Start & Family Services has received a RIF grant.

Now Enrolling for FREE Preschool!

Is it really that time of year again? Already?

Here at Riverbend Head Start & Family Services, we are entering Back-to-School mode. As employees hustle and bustle trying to find school supplies to fill their children's backpacks, the agency hustles and bustles preparing for the new program year.

As fall approaches, Head Start is gearing up for the school year. Staff are looking forward to working with families to help teach children reading, math, physical, motor, relationship, and language skills.

Head Start is a program that provides education, health and social services to 800 low-income children ages three to five and their families. The program is designed to provide qualifying children with the resources that they need in order to have a "head start" in life. One of these resources is free preschool. Centers are now enrolling. For more information or to see if you qualify, call (618) 463-5947

GoodSearch to support local children and families

What if Riverbend Head Start & Family Services earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase you made online went to support our cause? Well, now it can!

GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half of its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

GoodShop.com is a new online shopping mall which donates up to 37 percent of each purchase to your favorite cause! Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you’ll be supporting your favorite cause.

Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter Riverbend Head Start & Family Services as the charity you want to support. Don't forget to set GoodSearch as your home page and spread the word about this simple way to support Madison County children and families.