15 and Mahomies helping expand access to early childhood education
Early education has become more expensive and harder to find for parents and caregivers. That's why the 15 and the Mahomies Foundation is funding scholarships for five local families in need.
The scholarships will help fund an entire year of tuition for five children at the Open Minds Child Development Center in Olathe.
The money is also helping to expand the System of Care Initiative's Parent U program, which provides resources to break the cycle of poverty.
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'Being able to invest in early childhood and early learning of young children, actually meets a both short term and long-term goals and those are then related to workforce development, which in turn helps the economic base of any community,' Janice Smith said, executive director at System of Care.
Leaders say only 15% of children are kindergarten ready when they enter, but that number rises closer to 70% at the end of nine months of early education.
'So much focus is on K-12, but in terms of brain development, 80% of your brain development happens before your five, so it's important that we also invest there. Now they are preparing those individuals not only to be ready for kindergarten, but to graduate from high school,' Abdul Yahaya said, co-founder of Open Minds.
According to SOCI, working families in Kansas City with low-income are spending on average more than 30% of their income on childcare, far exceeding the federal affordability guideline of seven percent.
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'The community benefits because the families are able to elevate themselves by being regular attendees at their place of employment, as well as having peace of mind at the early education center that they have the scholarship to,' Jeanette Prenger said, with '15 and the Mahomies.'
Leaders say previous scholarship recipients are already showing a 30% increase in kindergarten preparedness.
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