Family Stability
In addition to raising young children while working and/or going to school, homeless parents often struggle with unreliable childcare, chronic health problems, and drug and alcohol addictions. Bright Beginnings alleviates a major source of anxiety for homeless parents by providing their children with a safe, nurturing, secure environment. Bright Beginnings’ family service team works one-on-one with families to identify personal challenges, set goals to overcome obstacles and achieve self-sufficiency. Social workers provide parents with referrals to shelters, food banks, mental health services, child protective services, disability services, and educational job training programs.

Bright Beginnings also offers educational opportunities for our parents including weekly support groups, monthly family forums, and a life long learning coach.

Parent Aide
Bright Beginnings offers a unique opportunity for parents interested in working in the field of early childhood development. Through the Parent Aide Program, parents work part-time at Bright Beginnings and gain valuable on-the-job training as they pursue their Child Development Associate (CDA) certification. Parent Aides participate in all on-site staff development trainings and receive regular supervision and support in the classroom.

Transition Services
The constant stress of transience is difficult for young children living in homeless environments. Bright Beginnings helps parents understand the importance of providing a stable home life for their children and helps families make smooth transitions into permanent housing. When a family is moving into permanent housing, their children are eligible to remain in the program for the remainder of the school year. The family service team then helps parents to identify appropriate child development centers in their new neighborhood well in advance of the move.  When a child is leaving the program to enroll in kindergarten, the family service team helps parents select the most appropriate kindergarten program for their child and obtain all necessary information for enrollment. Social workers are also available to accompany parents on a visit to the new school prior to enrollment and assist during the enrollment process. The teaching staff also prepare the children for the transition through play-based activities in the classroom.