Youngstown, Ohio, November 18, 2005 – Easter Seals of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana Counties (ESMTC) will host a press conference Tuesday, November 22, 2005 at 10 a.m. EST at Easter Seals Edwards Street location to announce a new $730,524 federal grant that will provide early education support to the local community.

The Library, one of 16 partners in the grant, received $97,000 for a new 17-month project, Growing Readers, Creating Leaders , funded by the Department of Health and Human Services through its Early Learning Opportunity Act Discretionary Fund (ELOA) and will run through February 2007. The project will serve children from birth to age five, particularly those from low income families as well as their parents and childcare providers in both counties, working to increase understanding and skills of parents to improve early education and literacy in their children; offer early literacy activities for children; increase knowledge of childcare providers on how to enhance early learning and literacy opportunities including children with special needs; and provide networking and cross training opportunities for professionals in early care, education and health services to improve outcomes for young children.

“The approach for this project is an unprecedented community effort to enhance the literacy skills of young children,” says Juliana Sofranko, Chief Development Officer of Easter Seals. “The cooperation and collaboration between the participating organizations is remarkable. Everyone involved understands what's at stake. All young children living in the Mahoning Valley deserve to have the same opportunity to enter school with experiences that will help them be ready learners.”

Sixteen organizations and agencies in Mahoning and Trumbull Counties have signed Memorandums of Understanding and will receive funding from the grant to implement the goals of the program: Easter Seals of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana Counties; Humility of Mary Health Partners; Tod Children's Hospital; Mahoning County Family and Children First Council; Mahoning County Help Me Grow program; Trumbull County Help Me Grow program; Tru-Mah-Col; The Child Care Connection; Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County; Trumbull County and Warren Public Library; Potential Development Program; The Rich Center; OCCHA; United Methodist Community Center; Neighborhood Ministries; and, Associated Neighborhoods.

Easter Seals of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana Counties is the fiscal agent for the 17 month project. Since March 2005, each of the participating organizations have worked to identify the early learning needs of young children and their families in the community, analyze existing services to support and develop new activities to enhance current services. Going forward, the Growing Readers, Creating Leaders project goals are to:

1.) Enhance early childhood literacy.

2.) Help parents, caregivers, childcare providers, and educators increase their capacity to facilitate the development of cognitive, language, comprehension, expressive language, social-emotional, and motor skills and promote early learning readiness in young children.

3.) Develop linkages among early learning programs within the community and between early learning programs and health care services for young children.

4.) Increase access to early learning opportunities for young children with special needs including developmental delays, by facilitating coordination with other programs serving young children.

The total cost of the Growing Readers, Creating Leaders project is $869,302.00 with 85 percent of the funding $730,524 coming from the ELOA Discretionary Fund. The additional 15 percent match of $138,778 will be financed by the non-governmental grant partners. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, and the Child Care Bureau do not endorse, or approve of any private or commercial products or services offered by organizations appearing in this article. The inclusion of any organization here does not constitute a representation, warranty, or endorsement concerning the competence, suitability, or reliability of such organizations.

Easter Seals of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana Counties has provided services for children and adults with disabilities and special needs for over 54 years. The Building Blocks preschool program for children with disabilities and special needs and the Buttons & Bows integrated preschool and daycare program are housed at the main Easter Seals Center located at 299 Edwards Street in Youngstown. The daycare program is offered Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. If anyone is interested in either program they may contact Easter Seals at 330-743-1168.

For 85 years, the Easter Seals organization has been providing services that help children and adults with disabilities gain greater independence. Our primary services -- medical rehabilitation, job training and employment, child care, adult day centers, and camping and recreation -- benefit more than 1 million individuals with disabilities and their families each year through more than 550 centers nationwide. See great things at www.easterseals.com