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News release

Durham Moms to Thank Mayor Bill Bell and City Council Members for Helping Kids Get a ‘Strong Start’

October 13, 2016

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

MomsRising to Present Giant ‘Thank You’ Card to City Leaders for Their Work Supporting Early Learning
Mayor Bill Bell and Durham City Council members have been working to make Durham a “City of Learners” by focusing on the early education of Durham’s youngest residents. Durham moms and dads will thank them for their efforts at the City Council meeting:
 
7pm, Monday, October 17
City Hall
101 City Hall Plaza
Durham
 
Mayor Bell worked with the City Council to pass a resolution supporting the creation of a task force to explore expanded access to high-quality pre-kindergarten with the long-term goal of establishing universal pre-k in Durham.
 
To draw attention to the importance of early childhood education and literacy, Mayor Bell also reads to children enrolled in high-quality child care centers every year during the Week of the Young Child, an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and facilitated locally by Durham’s Partnership for Children. Numerous City employees also support the early childhood system by serving on the Board of Directors and Committees of Durham’s Partnership for Children.
 
MomsRising and Durham’s Partnership for Children will present the card, which was signed by Durham moms, dads, and young children.
 
Mayor Bell is featured in the Strong Start for Strong Cities guide, a city resource created by MomsRising in partnership with the National League of Cities and School Readiness Consulting, that includes proven best practices, stories from families, and tools for advancing high-quality early learning at the city and municipal level. MomsRising and the National League of Cities are sharing the guide with city leaders across the nation to help inspire them to make affordable, quality early learning programs, like pre-k and childcare, a top priority.
 
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About Durham’s Partnership for Children – Preparing our children to succeed.
 
Founded in 1994 and first funded in 1995 to administer the Smart Start grant in Durham County, the Partnership works as an independent, local nonprofit that serves young children birth to age 5 and their families to ensure that all children enter school healthy and ready to succeed. For more than 20 years, the Partnership has helped parents pay for child care, improved the quality of child care and provided health and family support services to thousands of Durham County families with young children. The Partnership leverages the public and private sectors to achieve its mission:
 
To ensure every child in Durham enters school ready to succeed, we lead community strategies for children birth to 5 and their families that promote healthy development and learning and enhance access to high quality care. The Partnership administers Smart Start, NC Pre-K, Early Head Start, and community initiatives in Durham County. For more information about the Partnership, visit www.dpfc.net or call 919-403-6960, ext. 221.
 

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.