Sometimes, families come to Growing Together Preschool facing a number of daunting challenges as they try to secure the best possible care for their children. Chasity and her family fit that description well, but thanks to the services provided by GTP and their partners, their story has a happy ending.
Chasity’s mother toured GTP the winter before Chasity’s enrollment in kindergarten after her previous center recommended it on account of her special needs. Upon evaluation, her mother learned that Chasity had several developmental delays, and needed further testing for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Even before receiving treatment for these concerns, Chasity’s communication and social skills began to improve upon interacting with the nurturing staff at the school, and things looked optimistic.
Unfortunately, due to a medical card delay, Chasity could not receive services immediately, and though the issues were resolved, time was growing short. Soon, Chasity would have to attend kindergarten, and possibly without the life-changing assistance therapy could provide. During this time, GTP also learned that Chasity had a sister, Cherish, who her mother had left enrolled in another center due to her inability to meet the difference between the full tuition fee and the child care assistance she received. This required her mother to stretch her resources thin to transport the children. Growing Together felt strongly that both children should receive top quality care together and that their mother’s time was best spent loving and caring for them, not driving to two different centers. Thanks to the generous donations of our supports, grant funding, and our Head Start partnership, we were able to and offer tuition scholarships to both girls and a therapy scholarship to Chasity. Without this support, this family could have easily fallen through the cracks.
By the time Chasity entered public kindergarten, she’d built strong relationships with her teachers, begun to make simple requests and hold full conversations. Her ability to regulate her own behavior vastly improved as well. These sorts of success stories are made possible by the quality services GTP provides, services that your donation helps to secure.
Cherish communicates with her teacher and is motivated by bells to use a paint brush.