The Collaborator
NEWS & UPDATES
SPRING EDITION 2023 View as Webpage
Community,

EPEL's mission is to build a connected community dedicated to helping young children thrive. The song "DEM BONES" keeps swirling in my brain because it is all about connections and systems! My family would sing this song on road trips, and now it makes sense even though that wasn't the songwriter's intent.

Hopefully, you clicked on the song and now get the idea. The head bone is connected to the neck bone, and so on. Just like bones connecting to support the skeletal system and provide structure, the systems in our community must coordinate and connect to support our children and families. When a system in your body isn't functioning correctly, you might have a "hitch in your giddy-up"! 

The first 2,000 days of a child's life are complicated and navigating the early childhood system is cumbersome. The "Kindergarten readiness" journey doesn't start in preschool; it begins prenatally. Each system that wraps the family in care from prenatal to Kindergarten is part of school readiness. A ready child is dependent on a ready parent. Just like in the song, Dem Bones, the head bone is connected to the neck bone, the neck bone is connected to the…. The whole system must connect and work in tandem to support the family and the child for school readiness. "You" are all part of the "Dem Bones" systems, from funders, practitioners, businesses, families, and educators. Well-oiled systems offer ready bodies, ready brains, and ready families! 

In this critical time when 85-90% of brain growth occurs from birth to kindergarten, we must build a strong foundation for young learners by engaging their brains, connecting strong systems, and creating a community of opportunities for families that support our vision. 
 
EPEL, a collective impact organization, works with the entire system to solve problems collectively that can't be solved alone. The decisions are based on data and family voice to inform needed system changes. We must be connected and well-oiled to make an impact as we work collaboratively to provide awareness and access to resources and high-quality opportunities. 
 
If you read this newsletter, you are vital to helping build "Dem Bones" in a strong and connected system that supports families with young children. Your collective connections and actions help offer no wrong doors for families. Dr. James Comer at the Yale Child Study Center said, "No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship." Thank you for being a part of the impact! 

Here's to our future, the children and families where learning starts before birth to build "DEM BONES" and brains!


Together We Can,
Amber Peters
Executive Director
ABOUT EPEL
EPEL's mission is to partner with the community to build connections dedicated to helping young children thrive. We serve as an early learning community resource hub and connector for families and the community.
HERE WE "GROW" AGAIN
EPEL welcomes our FIRST full time employee, Andrea Vargas, leading our Community and Family Engagement. Andrea came in at a huge time of growth in the early childhood field and community and has hit the ground running. If you missed the welcome release, please see more information below. When you see Andrea out the community, please introduce yourself and tell her how your organization connects to the system to serve children and families.

Together WE Can!
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
After EPEL was named a Birth to Five Illinois early childhood collaboration, we were able to hire twelve Family Neighborhood Resource Specialists. The specialist provide outreach and information in areas identified through access and readiness data to focus efforts in the neighborhoods that need us most.

Thank you to the YWCA Elgin for their partnership in allowing EPEL to hire nine of their part time employees to make an impact in the community when they aren't teaching ESL classes in the mornings.
Family Specialists have participated in monthly trainings to learn about the early childhood system, resources, and use the community maps that IECAM (Illinois Early Childhood Asset Mapping) prepared for our community based planning team.

Our team of parents and community partners from many systems developed these maps based on community data to identify gaps and inequities in resources for our young families and this has helped us make data driven system changes.
PLEASE JOIN US TO CELEBRATE
Week of the Young Child is an annual celebration to bring attention to the importance of the young children in our community, families, educators, and advocates who work to engage them daily. EPEL has over twenty partners who have planned FREE engagement activities for children and families to participate in during the week. Check out the events below.

If you are part of a young child's life, we celebrate your commitment to the critical foundation you are helping build. HAT'S OFF TO YOU!
Please share the EPEL sponsored diaper event with your families with children birth to five. Invite them to stay for special activities and a drawing for a new carseat.
Click on Activity Sheet
to Open PDF
FREE 844-KID-INFO PHONE LINE
EPEL has a FREE phone line available in Spanish and English for families or organizations to call for early childhood support. EPEL can connect families and providers to early care and education resources, child care assistance funding, or support.
FAMILY ENGAGEMENT
We are excited to announce a new monthly family support newsletter for parents, caregivers and organizations who serve young children. If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter where you will receive tips, tricks, and information targeted for families with young children please click the button below and you will be added. Please share with others so they can subscribe too!
LEARNING IN THE LAUNDROMAT:
MEETING FAMILIES WHERE THEY ARE
Family engagement specialists build relationships and support families in various ways. Meeting families in the community allows families to connect and access resources where they are. EPEL is looking for laundromats or other non-traditional locations to set up as family learning centers in Elgin, Hanover Park, and Streamwood. Contact Amber with ideas.
PLAY, LEARN, GROW, THRIVE
BIRTH TO FIVE PLAY GROUPS
Playgroup offers opportunities for awareness and access. EPEL connects with families who have children ages birth to five. This group provides families time to grow and learn together. Families inform EPEL of the changes needed to navigate the early childhood system. 

Join us through May indoors and then we will see families outside in the neighborhoods.

Thank you to Zion Lutheran Church for providing a free meeting space for families.
COMING SOON!!! WE ARE GROWING AGAIN
Summer is right around the corner and we are excited to be adding a ninth neighborhood for summer 2023! And.... two sites bi-monthly! See sites below.
Times and additional details coming to your email soon!
EARLY CHILDHOOD INVESTMENT
GOVERNOR PRITZKER PROPOSING
DEEP EARLY CHILDHOOD INVESTMENT

Learn more about Smart Start Illinois and Governor Pritzker's proposed investments in early childhood services and programs in 2024.

Click the Smart Start Illinois flyer to learn more.



The Illinois Cares for Kids website connects families child care opportunities, resources, and (CCAP) child care assistance funding to offset the expense of child care and connections to early care and education sites. This website can be accessed through the EPEL website www.elginpartnership.org under the FIND CHILD CARE tab or www.illinoiscaresforkids.org
VOTE: INVEST IN STUDENTS & FACILITIES
HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT


EPEL's Vision is for All Children to be
Happy, Healthy, and Ready for Kindergarten.

The first five years of life are critical to building a strong foundation for a child's future success.
The CDC has updated milestones that children should reach to thrive. Families tracking milestones is critical to a child's readiness. Developmental screenings and tracking are strategies to help identify concerns. The tracker is available in English, Spanish and FREE to download. Click the link to check out the CDC Milestone Tracker and developmental milestones.
Take a peek at the new family resource, SPARKS Videos. Available in English and Spanish to understand your child's development. The videos provide you with everything you need to know about the age and stage of your child from birth to age five.

Do you have a child that you would like to have a developmental screening? Call EPEL 844-KID-INFO and
we can screen your child or help you schedule a screening with another entity to confirm your child is right on track.
PLEASE JOIN US
May 16-18  
Partner Plan Act
VIRTUAL Conference

"This year’s conference theme is Equity from the Start: Overcoming Obstacles, Leveraging OpportunitiesAt last year’s conference, we explored how to take action and shift power to communities most impacted by racial inequities and why it is important. This year, we want to take the how to the next level and explore ways in which communities are moving the needle towards equity by overcoming obstacles and leveraging existing opportunities."

EPEL is presenting at the conference about our community based planning process and how we used maps and access slot gap data to make informed decisions about the early childhood system.