Cabarrus Partnership for Children

Voices for Children Campaign

Our mission is to connect purpose, people and programs to ensure child well-being in Cabarrus County, North Carolina.

2019-2020
Annual Report

Welcome

We’re so happy you’re here. Unfortunately, COVID-19 forced us to cancel our annual Voices for Children Luncheon, which is where we would have told you all about our programs and successes from the year. Instead, we hope you will join us virtually, through this annual report and our social media posts, to hear our stories and learn about the impact that we’re making in Cabarrus County.

Who We Support

Cabarrus County children ages birth to five and their families

How

  • Early literacy programs

  • High-quality early educational experiences

  • Improving the quality of child care in Cabarrus County

  • Parent support groups
  • Home-visiting programs

  • Emergency dental care for children under 5 years old who are without dental insurance or Medicaid

  • Teaching families how to build healthy lifestyles
  • Outreach programs for families in need
  • Substance abuse care for pregnant mothers
  • Connecting families with local services and resources
  • Sharing with pediatric doctors the importance of Developmental Screening and helping with referrals
Child care providers and early childhood educators

  • Training and technical support from Child Care Health Consultants

  • Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Early Education Teacher Liaisons and an Early Educator Business Administrator Liaison work to address teacher education and business administrator education in child care facilities
  • Connecting providers and educators with local resources and opportunities
The Cabarrus County community
  • Continually assessing the needs of our local communities while working to identify and implement programs to improve the lives of young children and families
  • Working with community leaders in cross sector collaboration to serve our clients in need
  • Hosting community conversations to identify and address issues that are affecting local families
Anne Laukaitis Champion for Children Award

Special thanks to Danielle Mauldin for sponsoring our Champion for Children presentation

We are pleased to present the 11th annual Anne Laukaitis Champion for Children Award to Dr. Russell Suda.

Dr. Suda is the creator and Founder of the Substance Use Network, also known as the SUN Project. His vision has helped to create a collaborative system of care that uses best practices to support the health, safety and recovery of pregnant patients with a substance use disorder. This program took years to develop and Dr. Suda has spent his retirement dedicated to helping this population.

Gina Gonzalez Hofert, who works alongside Dr. Suda as the Program Manager for the SUN Project, spoke about why she nominated Dr. Suda for the Anne Laukaitis Champion for Children Award, before presenting it to him at the Cabarrus Health Alliance in Kannapolis.

Our Programs
smart start

Smart Start Smart Start was created in 1993 as an innovative solution to serve children birth to five. Smart Start delivers outcomes by giving communities local control to determine the best approach to achieving them.

Program Spotlights

Special thanks to our Program Spotlight Sponsor, Rev. Jacqueline Whitfield and Mr. Richard Whitfield

Early Education Liaison

The Early Education Liaison program funded by the Cabarrus Partnership for Children helps increase the education levels of early educators to increase the availability of quality early child care in Cabarrus County. The program provides scholarships to those who do not qualify for other financial aid and funds liaisons from Rowan-Cabarrus Community College to work with local educators/child care centers to enroll and help assist students in completing their education.

We spoke with Nida about the support she received from the Early Educator Liaison program and how it allowed her to take more classes as she pursued a career in early childhood education. Watch our spotlight on the Early Education Liaison program to learn more!

Parents as Teachers / Circle of Parents

Miriam is a first-time mom and participant in our Parents as Teachers and Circle of Parents Teen Support Group. In this video, you’ll hear how both programs supported Miriam as a young mom and how they empowered her to finish high school while completing a college degree at the same time!
 
Parents as Teachers and Circle of Parents are evidence-based programs that are funded by the Cabarrus Partnership for Children and administered by Endless-Opportunities.

Highlights from 2019-2020

Early Care and Education

High-quality educational experiences designed to enhance school readiness for eligible four-year-olds in Cabarrus County.

Programs Funded:

NC Pre-K Administration

Child Care Health Consultants

Building Healthy Lifestyles

Smart Start Subsidy

Early Education Liaison

Incredible Years

  • 13
    Sites
  • 26
    Classrooms
  • 362
    Children
  • 161
    Children received childcare subsidies
  • 247

    Child care providers in 35 child care facilities participated in training

  • 795
    On-site technical assistance services provided to child care providers.
    (Child Care Health Consultants, Incredible Years and Building Healthy Lifestyles in All Directions)
  • 60

    Child care providers received professional development advising

  • 53

    Received Smart Start education scholarships or education award stipends through Early Education Liaison

Health and Early Intervention

Programs Funded:

Assuring Better Health and Development (ABCD)

Substance Use Network (SUN) Clinic

Emergency Dental Services

Project Baby Reach

Breastfeeding Peer Support

  • 14,179

    Children received developmental and early intervention services through ABCD

  • 6

    Children received funding for emergency dental services

  • 241

    Families received prenatal and postpartum Breastfeeding Peer Support

  • 1,351

    Families of newborns in the Mother/Baby Unit and NICU received developmental milestones through Project Baby Reach

  • 44

    Systems building meeting and technical assistance contacts to allow recruitment of 14 SUN clinic patients

CCHC COVID-19 Response

Cabarrus Partnership for Children, through the Child Care Health Consultant (CCHC) program, facilitated distributing alcohol pads, batteries, disinfectant, face masks, gloves, paper towels, toilet paper, hand soap and thermometers to childcare providers throughout the county. The Partnership applied for and received grants and donations from individuals that helped fulfill 469 individual requests from 54 childcare centers and family child care homes. CCHC and the Partnership offer weekly director calls since the onset of COVID-19 to create a supporting community for these essential workers.

Family Education and Support

Programs Funded:

Parents as Teachers (PAT)

Circle of Parents

Kaleidoscope

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

Reach Out and Read

Total Books Distributed
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
  • 69,885

    Books mailed to children’s homes. (Up from 53,760 in 2018-19)

Reach Out and Read
  • 11,255

    Books distributed during well-child visits

  • 8

    Families received customized home visits by a Parent Educator through Parents as Teachers

  • 38

    Parents received peer support through Circle of Parents teen parent and inmate support groups

Community Support

Coats Collected: 513
Distributed: 459

Each year, the Cabarrus Partnership for Children collects and distributes hundreds of winter coats to children who are in need through our Cuddle up Coat Drive. Local businesses and organizations aid us in our efforts by becoming coat drive collection sites and by hosting their own coat drives with their staff and clientele, then delivering donated children’s coats to the Partnership.

  • 310 to preschool children

  • 26 to DHS families
  • 123 adult/larger sized coats were donated to My Fathers’ House and the Women and Children’s Shelter

Emergency Fund

The following items were purchased and distributed to local families in need thanks to your contributions to the Emergency Fund.

15 Car Seats
21 Beds
(Pack ‘n Plays, Toddler Bed/Mattress, Twin Bed/Mattress)

Financials

Revenues

Expenditures

Corporate and Foundation Contributors

  • All Saints Episcopal Church

  • Cabarrus Brewing
  • Cabarrus County
  • Cabarrus ECA
  • Duke Energy Foundation
  • Early Childhood Foundation
  • Forest Hills UMC
  • Foundation for the Carolinas
  • Hayes Trust
  • Hilbish Ford
  • Ingersoll Rand
  • McGill Baptist Church
  • National Christian Foundation
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  • Rotary Club of Cabarrus Co.
  • Speedway Children’s Charities
  • United Way – Central Carolinas
  • Wilmar ECA

Voices for Children Campaign Sponsors

  • Champion for Children Award Sponsor
    Danielle Mauldin, Board of Directors

  • Program Spotlight Sponsor
    Rev. Jacqueline Whitfield and Mr. Richard Whitfield

  • Friend of Cabarrus Partnership for Children
    Cyndie Mynatt – Ben Mynatt Family of Dealerships

  • Friends of Cabarrus Partnership for Children
    Waynett Taylor – Board of Directors

Staff and Board of Directors

Staff

  • Ann Benfield – Executive Director
  • Ariel Ayers – Finance
  • Lauren Westin – Program Manager
  • Patricia Sehorn – Program Manager
  • Jamie Clark – NCPK & Subsidy
  • Lyne Goode – Family Programs & NCPK
  • Lissy Rios – Program Assistant
  • Starla Hatley – ABCD/ROR Program Coordinator
  • Debra Pless – Child Care Health Consultant
  • Melissa Jones – Child Care Health Consultant

Board of Directors

  • Jacqueline Whitfield – Retired Educator, Faith Community
  • Rose Staples Deese – Deese Law Firm
  • Joseph Houston – Duke Energy
  • Cheryl Kelling – Community Representative
  • Karen Calhoun – Department of Human Services
  • Rosolena Conroy, MD – Pediatrician
  • Kim Canton-Kane, DDS – Cabarrus Health Alliance
  • Jeanne Dixon – Retired DSS, Community Member
  • Stephen Morris – Gem Theatre, County Commissioner
  • Waynett Taylor – Rowan-Cabarrus Community College

Get Involved

Cabarrus Partnership for Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which means we depend on the support of our local community in order to provide evidence-based programs and critical services to ensure the well-being of Cabarrus County’s youngest population. There is a large population of children under the age of 5 who don’t have access to high-quality child care, early education, health services, and the basic programs and resources they’ll need in order to thrive. We need to reach the children who need our programs the most and we can’t do it without your help.

Are you able to support our programs?

Make a Monetary Donation

Make a monetary donation through mail, PayPal or Facebook to support one of our many evidence-based programs for children ages birth to five. Your support stays right here in Cabarrus County. Visit the link below to choose how you’d like to donate.

Ways to Give

Honor Your Loved Ones This Holiday Season

Donate $50 or more to the Cabarrus Partnership for Children and receive a pack of 5 Christmas cards drawn by local children in our NC Pre-K program! If you would like to donate $50 for 5 cards, Email Lauren

Contact Us

Create a Facebook Fundraiser

Create a Facebook Fundraiser to support the Cabarrus Partnership for Children, then share it with your family and friends! To create a fundraiser, visit the link below, select “Raise Money” and follow the steps to getting your fundraiser set up!

Create a Fundraiser

Shop AmazonSmile

Did you know that you can support our work at the Partnership simply by shopping on Amazon?! Use our AmazonSmile link every time you shop and Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases to the Cabarrus Partnership for Children! Visit our AmazonSmile link below to bookmark it and start shopping!

Start Shopping!
Visit Our Website

Cabarrus Partnership for Children

Physical Address
1307 S. Cannon Blvd. Kannapolis, NC 28082

Mailing Address
PO Box 87, Kannapolis, NC 28082

Phone: (704) 933-8278
Website: cabarruspartnership.org