The Yay Babies Edition
by Kathy Desmond, PEC's CEO
PEC is dedicating September and October for its 'Yay Babies Campaign.'
'Yay Babies' celebrates our focus on young children who experience homelessness. Every year we concentrate our energies to increase awareness of the needs of these children.
Two weeks ago, we partnered with Congressperson Dwight Evans on a Roundtable Discussion on the intersection of the homeless housing and early learning systems. A dozen national, state, and local experts shared their work and identified challenges and recommendations that we all need to consider. We aim to report out this work in the near future.
Working with Master's level interns from Drexel School of Public Heath and Temple's Social Work department, our staff have summarized a variety of new reports on various aspects of how Covid 19 is affecting child care and other important services for families. Read these reports here. You can find our podcasts on this page, too.
The late Dr. Staci Perlman is credited with coining the phrase 'Yay Babies,' something she sang about after Pennsylvania changed its Early Intervention qualification guidelines to include young children who experience homelessness. It has been five years since Staci passed away, and we dedicate the Yay Babies Campaign to her memory.
And, by coincidence, I happened to have become a grandmother recently, not once, but twice, as both of my children delivered babies born a few weeks apart. These babies will grow up in loving and supportive families, my hope for all babies everywhere. No baby should be homeless, yet more than 1,700 children ages 0-5 spent at least one night in a Philadelphia homeless shelter last year. This number seems to increase every year! Why do we as a society tolerate this?
The good news is that there are literally thousands of adults working every day to serve children. I thank each and every person out there who brings a smile to sheltered child. PEC stands with you and will strive to continue to strengthen the work that is needed.
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