NJCDC gets $25,000 to improve preschool education in Great Falls neighborhood | Paterson Times Paterson Times

NJCDC gets $25,000 to improve preschool education in Great Falls neighborhood

By Jonathan Greene
Published: December 8, 2015

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The New Jersey Community Development Corporation (NJCDC) received a $25,000 grant from the PSEG Foundation to improve quality of preschool education in the Great Falls Promise Neighborhood.

“We are grateful to the PSEG Foundation for their ongoing support and dedication to the community,” Bob Guarasci, chief executive officer at NJCDC, a nonprofit, said. “Their funding will allow us to expand upon our early learning programs and neighborhood outreach initiatives, thus educating and preparing the Neighborhood’s youngest residents for leadership roles within the community, and continuing this education with a pipeline of programs.”

Grant funds will be used to improve quality of education at neighborhood preschools and childcare centers through the Early Learning Network, a collaboration of preschools and childcare centers with a mission to provide better quality of early childhood education services to preschool age children.

The Great Falls Promise Neighborhood is a pipeline approach modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone’s Promise Neighborhood Initiative to support children and their families from birth to high school and beyond to turn young adults into productive college educated adults who earn a living wage to better their community.

Some of the grant money will be used to conduct outreach efforts to engage local residents and businesses to improve the conditions of the neighborhood. NJCDC intends to reach 8,000 children residing or attending preschool in the promise neighborhood. The grant will also help the nonprofit increase the number of residents who take advantage of services, workshops, and seminars at the Neighborhood Help Center, a one stop source for assistance with a broad range of neighborhood residents’ needs.


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