The Dunham Fund grant will support a new program “Play. Learn. Connect: Bringing Early Childhood Information and Service to Families Where They Live” within the SPARK (Strong, Prepared And Ready for Kindergarten) early learning initiative which increases access to quality early learning services for young, at-risk children in the Aurora area.

The objective of the program is to change the model for typical community outreach by providing access to information and services for families of deep poverty working with trusted entities in specific neighborhoods. Using a community Geographic Information System map, SPARK has identified four communities with the highest number of children meeting specific poverty levels and experiencing linguistic isolation, with Spanish as the primary language, for implementation of Play. Learn. Connect.

SPARK is a collaboration of Fox Valley United Way, City of Aurora, local school districts 129, 131, 204 and 308, YWCA Child Care Resource and Referral, local child care providers and other organizations interested in promoting school readiness skills, including socialization, early literacy, math and vocabulary skills for the at-risk, pre-school child.