03/19/2026
Our friends at Summer Totes Project do amazing work in our communities for children and families providing totes of supplies and necessities to support them through the summer months-
As you know, we are a free home visiting program through the Regional Office of Education serving prenatal mothers and children up to 3 years old. A lot of people wonder "how do those things fit together?" I'd love to tell you -
We fit with the ROE as an early childhood program because our "curriculum" is to support families and children for preschool readiness and future academic success by addressing barriers. These barriers are identified and backed by research as obstacles that can prevent: early detection of developmental/speech delay, access to quality early education services, milestone supported screenings & monitoring that are not routinely addressed at well child visits.
These barriers include by are not limited to:
-poverty
-lack of transportation
-food insecurity
-single parent household/income
-high risk pregnancy or extensive NICU stay
-elevated lead levels & more
By address this barriers & other obstacles with a variety of families we aim to provide a solid foundation for children going into preschool. However, those barriers often do not stop there, and continue through school age. The Summer Totes Project is another support that some of these families can rely on for much needed supplies.
From now until the end of April we will be collecting donations of new coloring books & crayons to be added to totes and distributed to children and families - If you'd like to contribute and donate we will be accepting these donations at our Regional Office in Atkinson, or Project Step Ahead Office in Kewanee.
Thank you for helping us make a difference 💛☀️
