At the end of 2023, our inaugural year, the Council made a $1M grant commitment to support ParentChild+, specifically their home-based child care model. Home-based child care is by far the most needed and yet most neglected form of care for infants and toddlers living in poverty. With our support, ParentChild+ will now be able to expand their services into some of Long Island's most underserved communities.

This expansion effort is important because it is designed to strengthen the local economy, creating new and better jobs, supporting working parents, and building generations of kids who are prepared and excited to be in a classroom. With our funding, trained specialists will work to empower providers to see themselves as teachers, infusing communities with a wave of school-ready children, and boosting the early childhood system with game-changing impacts for kids, parents, and beyond.  Research shows that when children are prepared to enter their first classroom, they graduate high school at the same rate as their middle- and upper-income peers – giving them an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty in their family.

In early 2024, the Council made a multi-year grant commitment to the NYU Langone Pediatric Center in Hempstead. This Center is completely staffed by NYU practitioners who manage all direct medical services. Because of the demographic of the 22,000 patients they see each year, every single patient is screened for dozens of social determinants of health such as food insecurity, homelessness, lack of transportation, social isolation, and early childhood education. Our grant is allocated towards the supplemental family support services that the Center provides - Patient Care Associates and Family Support Counselors. 

Patient Care Associates focus on helping the patient navigate the healthcare system. They assist with making appointments, getting necessary documents for those appointments, overcoming barriers, and addressing issues that arise that may prevent a positive health outcome for this child. Family Support Counselors screen patients for social needs and help the parent and patient navigate the community resources and local organizations available to them. Often, the patients and their parents develop strong relationships with the Associates and Counselor. They feel comfortable reaching out because they appreciate the help, especially for those parents who have medically complex children. Both of these roles are critical to the long-term health outcomes of the families in care.