Children First CEO Kansas

Community Farmers Markets are great connectors of people. At the same time, they open are providing fresh food and supporting a local economy by supporting local farmers. The twist to our program will be to ask those neighbors who can afford it, to make a monthly donation of $10 to an escrow account. For those low-income families in the neighborhood who struggle with food insecurities, as identified by the social worker, they would be given a weekly voucher to the community market from the account. In addition, neighborhood gardeners could bring their extra produce to the “free table.” So, the neighborhood is taking care of the neighborhood, all are connecting with each other at the community marketplace, and everyone is eating healthier. Long range goals include:
1) increase fresh food eating habits for students and their families to address food insecurities, at the same time, to decrease obesity and diet-related diseases, and
2) increase employment opportunities for youth who are unlikely to find work and create micro businesses for families that struggle with consistent or no employment.
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Our program, “Promise Neighborhoods,” is a strategy to improve educational educational and developmental outcomes of low-income children and youth through an entire neighborhood. Using the Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement model, our program builds a continuum of cradle-through-college approach to increase graduation rates for living wage employment, particularly introducing higher paying careers (such as science, technology, engineering, and math- STEM). Two projects include: the Neighborhood Impact Project and the Youth Innovation Project.
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Strategies for the Youth Innovation Project in 2016-2017 will work in targeted Title I schools to:
1) provide a Social Worker to connect existing community services to the students and their families who need the most assistance,
2) maintain a basic needs pantry for children and youth to increase success rate in school, &
3) create the GO 4 STEM Program.

The long range goal is to stabilize low-income students to increase graduation rates for higher paying jobs, particularly in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers.

2000 – 2010: The Wichita organization was started in 2000 in response to a national movement started by Sam Walton’s son, John Walton. In 1998 as part of the Philanthropy Roundtable, he established the Children’s Scholarship Fund to provide tuition assistance for low-income families to send their children to private schools. Ms. Cindy Duckett established a Wichita group was able to help over 50 children with $94,000 in scholarships.

2011 – 2016: In January 2011, the organization was transitioned to a newly formed leadership group with a focus on Aviation, Science, Technology, and Math (A STEM). Two projects included:
(1) Future Women in A STEM Career, which provided workforce development education with speakers and hands-on activities for low-income girls in middle and high school who like math and science, and
(2) A STEM Career Day, which introduced youth enrolled in Title I schools (high enrollment of low-income students) to higher paying jobs through communication with Human Resource professionals and A STEM speakers.

2016- Current: In August 2016, the board closed the Future Women in A STEM Career project and developed the current programs.

Children First CEO Kansas

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